A 4 step-process to create psychological safety during feedback.

In order to effectively influence others, it is essential to communicate in a way that ensures involvement and commitment.
Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina has found that positive emotions like trust, curiosity, and inspiration open our minds and help us build psychological, social, and physical resources. With this positive emotive approach, we feel more safe and become more open-minded and motivated, the ingredients necessary to receive feedback well and seek to find solutions.

How do your managers build psychological safety during feedback? Here is my 4 step-process managers can use to create a SAFE environment while creating actions from feedback: Share-Accept-Fuse-Engage feedback loop.

1. Share your intent and feedback: your ‘why’ for providing feedback, and share your observations and point of view. Share with concrete, specific, and objective information and with heart.
2. Accept and actively ask for their point of view, emotions, suggestion, or expectations. Don’t just ask if team members have questions, encourage them to raise concerns and share an emotive story.
3. Fuse your points of view by actively clarifying what agreements and disagreements exist and how these may affect moods, happiness, and work life.
4. Engage commitment to change behavior, following the ABC tip: Admit it has impact, Believe it needs changing, Commit to change it.

Are you interested in creating an organizational culture that is challenging but not threatening, real yet human, or stimulating yet kind. We will help your leaders raise oxytocin levels (the feel good drug) in your teams to guide them towards real behavior change. Sign up a small group or all your managers for our Providing Essential Performance Feedback Workshop and have us customize it to your needs.

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