High-Performance Teams

Psychological Safety

• Nobody affects the employee’s experience of work more than their manager.

• Trust and psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing teams.

• Trust is built over time through consistent actions but it can erode quickly when words and behaviors don’t align.

• 3 ways to build psychological safety on your team include:

  • Address conflict asap. Don’t let issues fester, and don’t tolerate disrespectful behavior. People watch this very closely!  It’s disheartening if managers let issues amongst team members go.

  • Mistakes shouldn’t follow people for life. Treat mistakes as opportunities to learn, not labels that follow people forever.

  • If you’re going to be a jerk, always be a jerk. Be consistent in how you lead and make decisions.

Building Trust Through Clarity

• When expectations are clear, teams can work more independently and are more productive. There’s less hand-holding and employees aren’t wasting time guessing what they should be doing.

• When expectations feel unclear, especially in high-stakes situations, stress and hesitation increase. Many employees won’t ask for clarification, especially if there’s no psychological safety. They may worry about looking dumb or unprepared.

• Our role is to be proactive and intentional about setting clear expectations. Don’t assume they “get it.”

• Wherever you spot red flags signaling a lack of certainly, take a pause and think about how you can supply missing information. Use the 3 AM Test.

Encouraging Healthy Conflict

• Without conflict: We protect harmony over results. We hold back concerns. We settle for “good enough”

• With conflict: Ideas get sharper. Blind spots get exposed. Decisions get stronger

• The formula for healthy conflict includes:

  • Paraphrase the other person’s viewpoint. Use the See, Hear, Understand technique.

  • Find common ground and voice your opinion. Agree where you can to build social credits.

  • Make your request/Keep the conversation moving forward.

• Consider the Relationship Bank Account. What are you doing/saying that adds to the relationship bank account (builds trust)? What are you doing that withdraws from the relationship bank account (erodes trust)?