Course Details

Psychological Safety in Project Teams Training Course: Creating environments where teams feel safe to speak up, experiment, and learn

Introduction

Unlock peak team performance and innovation with our "Psychological Safety in Project Teams" training course. In today's dynamic project environments, true success hinges on teams feeling empowered to share ideas, admit mistakes, and challenge the status quo without fear of negative repercussions. This intensive 10-day program equips project leaders with the essential strategies and practical tools to cultivate a culture of psychological safety, where every team member feels safe to speak up, experiment, and learn. Transform your project teams into highly engaged, resilient, and collaborative units, driving exceptional results through open communication and mutual trust.

Duration

10 Days

Target Audience

This course is essential for project managers, team leads, scrum masters, functional managers, HR professionals, and any leader or team member who wants to foster a more open, innovative, and productive project environment. It is particularly beneficial for those who:

• Lead teams where members are hesitant to speak up or challenge ideas.
• Are experiencing low team engagement, trust, or a fear of failure.
• Want to improve conflict resolution and constructive feedback within their teams.
• Are driving innovation or continuous improvement initiatives.
• Aspire to build high-performing, resilient, and adaptable project teams.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of the "Psychological Safety in Project Teams" training course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the foundational concept of psychological safety and its profound impact on project performance, innovation, and team well-being.
• Identify the key behaviors and environmental factors that either promote or hinder psychological safety within project teams.
• Develop practical strategies for initiating conversations, actively listening, and encouraging diverse perspectives within teams.
• Master techniques for creating a "safe to fail" environment where experimentation and learning from mistakes are embraced.
• Implement effective methods for giving and receiving constructive feedback in a non-threatening manner.
• Design and facilitate team discussions and retrospectives that foster open dialogue and problem-solving.
• Understand the leader's pivotal role in modeling psychologically safe behaviors and building trust.
• Navigate and resolve conflicts in a way that preserves relationships and promotes learning.
• Measure the level of psychological safety within their project teams and identify areas for continuous improvement.
• Formulate a personalized action plan to cultivate and sustain psychological safety in their own project teams.

Course Modules

Module 1: Introduction to Psychological Safety in Project Context

• Defining psychological safety: A shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
• The scientific evidence: Research by Amy Edmondson and Google's Project Aristotle.
• The "Why": Impact on innovation, learning, error reporting, engagement, and team performance.
• Distinguishing psychological safety from trust, politeness, and comfort.
• Case studies illustrating the presence or absence of psychological safety in projects.

Module 2: The Four Stages of Psychological Safety (Timothy Clark)

• Understanding the progression: Inclusion Safety, Learner Safety, Contributor Safety, Challenger Safety.
• Identifying which stage your team is in and implications for growth.
• Strategies to cultivate Inclusion Safety: Making everyone feel welcome and accepted.
• Building Learner Safety: Encouraging questions, experimentation, and admitting mistakes.
• Practical exercises for self-assessment and team assessment.

Module 3: The Leader's Role in Building Psychological Safety

• Modeling Vulnerability: Admitting your own mistakes, asking for help, not having all the answers.
• Inviting participation and actively soliciting input from all team members.
• Responding productively to failure and feedback: Embracing a growth mindset.
• Setting clear expectations and boundaries for respectful interaction.
• The impact of a leader's emotional intelligence on team psychological safety.

Module 4: Creating a "Safe to Fail" Environment

• Understanding the fear of failure and its impact on innovation.
• Shifting the mindset from blame to learning.
• Designing "safe experiments" and small, iterative tests.
• Conducting effective post-mortems and retrospectives focused on learning, not blaming.
• Celebrating intelligent failure and the insights gained.

Module 5: Encouraging Voice and Speaking Up

• Strategies for soliciting diverse perspectives and dissenting opinions.
• Techniques for facilitating open discussions and brainstorming sessions.
• Managing dominant voices and encouraging quieter team members.
• Creating channels for anonymous feedback and ideas.
• The importance of active listening and validating contributions.

Module 6: Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback

• The neuroscience of feedback and how to deliver it effectively.
• Frameworks for delivering feedback that fosters growth, not defensiveness.
• Encouraging team members to provide feedback to each other and to the leader.
• Creating a feedback culture: Regular, timely, and specific.
• Navigating difficult conversations with empathy and candor.

Module 7: Conflict Resolution and Difficult Conversations

• Understanding the different types of conflict in project teams.
• Moving from defensive reactions to constructive dialogue.
• Techniques for mediating conflicts and facilitating resolution.
• The role of psychological safety in enabling healthy conflict.
• De-escalation strategies for high-tension situations.

Module 8: Practical Tools and Techniques for Teams

• Team Charters: Defining norms of interaction and safety.
• Check-in/Check-out rituals: Creating space for emotional expression.
• Retrospective techniques focused on safety and learning.
• Feedback loops: Implementing regular opportunities for safe feedback.
• Using surveys and informal pulse checks to gauge team safety.

Module 9: Sustaining Psychological Safety and Measuring Progress

• Quantitative measures: Surveys, questionnaires (e.g., Google's Project Aristotle questions).
• Qualitative measures: Observation, interviews, feedback.
• Identifying early warning signs of declining psychological safety.
• Strategies for continuous improvement and maintaining a safe environment.
• Communicating the value and impact of psychological safety to stakeholders.

Module 10: Building a Culture of Psychological Safety Across the Organization

• Scaling psychological safety beyond individual teams to the PMO and organization.
• The role of leadership at all levels in championing psychological safety.
• Integrating psychological safety into organizational values and performance frameworks.
• Overcoming systemic barriers and entrenched cultural norms.
• Personal action plan for fostering psychological safety in your context.

CERTIFICATION

• Upon successful completion of this training, participants will be issued with Macskills Training and Development Institute Certificate

TRAINING VENUE

• Training will be held at Macskills Training Centre. We also tailor make the training upon request at different locations across the world.

AIRPORT PICK UP AND ACCOMMODATION

• Airport pick up and accommodation is arranged upon request

TERMS OF PAYMENT

Payment should be made to Macskills Development Institute bank account before the start of the training and receipts sent to info@macskillsdevelopment.com