Safe spaces are by design…

Making spaces safe is vital for inclusion work

I talk a lot about psychological safety. And if you’re not sure what that is – you can read all about it in my article “What is psychological safety”.

But it stands to reason that if we’re asking people to get comfortable with their discomfort of inclusion-based topics and conversations, then we will need a lot of psychological safety. What I have noticed in the past month or so, is that psychological safety needs to be given attention in order to be maintained. And simply assuming that because it has been established at one time, or for one purpose, that it will always continue that way can be a serious pitfall for a lot of groups.

I have experienced this myself recently too in an equality focused group. We’re all there because we believe in creating an equal future, but our assumptions that we would all naturally be able to hold space for one another, and listen when we are called in by other for causing harm (Being called “in” is like being called “out” but it doesn’t happen publicly) were erroneous.

Thankfully, we’re learning and growing as a group, and trying our best to navigate this with courageous but kind conversations, reflections, and apologies.

But I tell you this to share that no space is perfect. And all spaces need a deliberate approach to make them psychological safe in the first place, and attention and check-ins to keep them that way.

It is the act of doing this that makes it ok for people to hold differing views, and it allows us to seek to explore these views to we can better understand one another and create ideas and solutions with more intention. We explore the positions, not the personalities.

What do you think?

How much time do you dedicate to establishing and maintaining psychological safety?

Top Tip!

Safe spaces need boundaries and time for reflection.

As humans we’re great at reacting to things. In safe spaces we take time to notice our reactions within ourselves first. Then we take what we notice and we think about how to response, so we can do so purposefully.

Being able to create a pause between what you notice and how you react can be a key tool in your kit bag of inclusive leadership skills.