How Psychological Safety is Critical for Crisis Management

Crisis Management, Culture, Psychological safety

When I worked at MissionMode, a crisis management products company (now part of everbridge.com), our customers often shared their after-action reports on major crises and incidents. From natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis to acts of terrorism and company-specific crises, our products made a significant difference. While it was great to hear about how our software performed in a crisis, most of the impact came from the people – their decisions and actions.

These reports came across several industries, including apparel, energy, financial services, first responders, government, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, technology, and transport. They were global and national brands.

More recently, as an executive and board advisor, I have observed that crisis-style management often becomes a habitual response to regular operations. While it galvanises people into action and prioritises focus, it can also trap executives in a reactive mode, hindering strategic decision-making. Leaders are trapped moving from crisis to crisis. The key to breaking this cycle and fostering effective leadership lies in adopting and embedding Psychological Safety.

Here’s what we’ve learned about crisis management and the crucial role of Psychological Safety in creating successful responses:

Greater than Planning

Vital Planning: Familiarity with plans is essential, but only a psychologically safe team is questioning, creative, authentic, purpose-driven, decisive, united, and eager to learn – qualities crucial for effective crisis response. Following a plan without using these qualities will leave the team and the business exposed.

Open Communication

Clearer Communications: Without fear, psychologically safe teams communicate truthfully and promptly, keeping stakeholders informed and reducing confusion and delays.
Reduced Escalation: Safe teams provide timely and appropriate situation reports, mitigating escalation risks by considering diverse needs and expectations.
Timely Communications: With less collaborative clutter, psychologically safe teams achieve quicker understanding and action, resulting in timely communications.

Quicker Decision-Making

Empowered Decisions: Psychologically safe team members feel empowered to make decisions and take action.
Reduced Delay: Psychological safety reduces the hesitation, bureaucracy, fear, and uncertainty typically associated with crisis decision-making. Procrastination is removed because there is no fear of retribution.

Improved Stress Reduction

Increased Emotional Support: Team members support each other selflessly, fostering trust and reducing stress.
Enhanced Creativity and Capability: Reduced stress levels in psychologically safe teams boost creativity and the ability to work together effectively.
Improved Solution Focus: With less fear of negative consequences, psychologically safe teams concentrate on solving problems rather than fearing failure or dealing with interpersonal status issues.

Better Learning and Adaptability

Learning from Mistakes: Psychological safety fosters an environment where teams can learn from their experiences, improving responses through acquired knowledge.
Increased Adaptation: Safe teams feel free to test and adapt in the fast-changing environment of a crisis without fear of castigation or remonstration.

Enhanced Collaboration

Creates Accountability: Psychologically Safe team members proactively take responsibility for their actions and collaborate to resolve problems.
Leverages Diversity: Encouraging diverse backgrounds, expertise, experiences and thinking leads to the best solutions during a crisis.

Increased Engagement and Morale

Increased Motivation: Safe teams are more motivated and engaged, resulting in greater effort, tenacity, resilience, and commitment.
Positive Culture: A positive culture is a natural outcome of psychological safety, boosting morale and momentum to maintain focus, productivity, and resolution.

Psychological safety is vital for all teams but becomes even more crucial during a crisis. Without it, tunnel vision and procrastination can paralyse individuals and teams, leading to poor decision-making and overwhelm. When this happens, crisis teams are left merely mitigating issues rather than transforming the situation into an opportunity. It doesn’t have to be this way. Establishing a psychologically safe crisis team is an organisation’s best step to being truly prepared.