The Importance of Psychological Safety in Marketing

Today’s world of work is evolving and becoming more in tune with the individual as part of the overall organization. Granted, that does not apply to the vast majority of workplaces, but the idea of psychological safety has taken off in progressive organizations interested in building better ways of working together. For many, it is a game changer.

What is Psychological Safety?

The concept is an extension of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in our work-life (Mom will be proud I can cite something from my degree). It opens up the potential for more valuable interactions by freeing us of the baggage that prevents us from speaking up.

Psychological safety is an emerging dynamic of modern workplace culture where employees feel safe and secure in expressing their thoughts, ideas, and concerns without fear of retaliation, criticism, humiliation, rejection, or adverse consequences. It catalyzes employees to take risks, learn from mistakes, and work collaboratively towards a common goal, with everyone contributing to their full potential.

Having a Voice

Dr. Amy Edmunston TedTalk on Psychological Safety popularized the term and described it as having a voice and being able to speak up and be heard. The shared belief is that our workplace is a safe environment for interpersonal risk-taking, allowing an atmosphere where trust, openness, and collaboration can lead to increased creativity, innovation, and productivity.

Why Psychological Safety in Marketing?

The nature of our work demands the left and right parts of our brain in a daily mix of tuning our creativity to drive commerce. We are made up of suits and creatives, brand and performance folks, specialists, and generalists. We approach our work from various angles and perspectives and have to collaborate on that basis.

We’ve done a good job in our history dealing with the uniqueness of marketing and creating friction to get the best from our efforts. Watch any episode of Mad Men to reveal how we intersect and purposefully create friction in our processes to get the best results.

However, in today’s modern marketing world, we have a bevy of opinions from everyone - suggestions, ideas, and internal and external influences to manage as we deal with an explosion of tactics, tools, and platforms. Not to mention four generations working together (Boomers, Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen Z. We are at the point where we need some guardrails as we look to build new collaborative ways of working that maximize our creative and commerce paradigm on a better foundation moving forward.

Leadership Plays an Active Role

Leaders and executives play the most crucial role. They set the climate with active listening, responding to concerns, and empowering teams to find solutions for themselves.

Establishing and maintaining a safe environment means setting clear expectations and building up confidence we are in it for the long haul. Leaders guide and support teams. Leaders allow independent team discussions and the elbow room to reach the right decisions together, underpinned by a psychologically safe workplace.

Leaders are advised to begin by creating the conditions and putting elements into place and set the as the foundation with the following:

• Trust: Trust is the foundation, and teams need leaders to deliver with their best intentions, established and demonstrated with consistent behaviors.
• Open & transparent communication: Ensure the opportunity to have a voice is part of a culture of open and transparent communication. Everyone is encouraged to express their thoughts and ideas without reservation or hidden agendas.
• Respect: Treat everyone with respect and dignity, actively encourage shared perspectives, and ensure listening with an open mind.
• Empathy: Harness the ability to understand and share the feelings of others honestly. Empathy is critical to building strong relationships and asks us to connect directly with what others are feeling and going through as if we were ourselves.
• Risk-taking: This is about encouraging employees and teams to take risks and try new things. It triggers a culture of innovation, experimentation, and learning from mistakes.
• Continuous learning: Ample opportunities exist to learn and grow. Whether from training, coaching, shadowing, partnering, or mentoring, learning never stops and is at the heart of a psychologically safe workplace.

Ten Things That Destroy Psychological Safety

We know the preconditions for success, but it also helps to know what can prevent or destroy Psychological Safety from taking hold. If you recognize any of the elements below in leadership or team behaviors, stop it before it gets started.

1. A “blame culture” where mistakes are punished.

2. Micromanaging the team’s work; interrupting or preventing the team from solving/resolving with autonomy.

3. Breaking promises, not keeping your word, or sowing distrust.

4. Taking individual credit for team effort, stifling everyone’s ability to share in the success.

5. Lack of action or decision-making with bad actors.

6. Self-aggrandizing behaviors where leaders invoke “do as I say, not as I do.”

7. Little investment in team or individual development and growth opportunities.

8. A pace that can be physically and emotionally draining, where burnout or stress is likely without proper rest and rejuvenation.

9. Failing to recognize and reward. Ignoring or undervaluing celebrating.

10. A lack of diversity and inclusivity, a homogeneous workplace that lacks new ideas and perspectives

Building Community for Marketing Teams

In a supportive environment, we feel part of an overall community and can be comfortable expressing ideas, opinions, and concerns. As a result, we have a more engaged, creative, and high-functioning team.

This shared set of values and behaviors is essential in today’s marketing, where every member is asked to contribute, flex creativity, experiment, and take risks.

If we conclude that psychological safety is the underpinning for a collaborative culture with clear benefits, the more significant being that we are shaping teams that are much more likely to innovate than stagnate, the path forward becomes clear. So, is your organization prepared to reframe how you interact? Are you ready to lead, establish, and sustain psychological safety for your marketing teams? It will take courage, but that is what it is all about in the first place.

They’re waiting.

By Michael Seaton

Partner at NavigateAgile, Michael Seaton leads executives and teams in marketing transformation, building cultures of collaboration from new ways of thinking, working, and sharing for modern marketing with business agility & agile marketing.