Psychological Safety

5 minutes 5 Questions

The concept of Psychological Safety, defined as a shared belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risk within the team, plays a vital role in Scrum and retrospectives. It ensures that team members feel comfortable sharing their opinions, concerns, ideas, and failures without fear of humiliation…

Guide on Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety is a critical aspect in a Scrum team. It refers to the level of comfort and trust among team members which allows them to express and be themselves without fear of judgment, retribution, or negative impacts on their career.

Importance of Psychological Safety:
1. Enhances collaboration: Team members can voice their thoughts and concerns, leading to better solutions and ideas.
2. Promotes learning: It encourages taking risks and learning from mistakes rather than hiding them.
3. Drives engagement: Teams with high psychological safety are more invested and engaged.

How it Works:
Psychological safety operates on trust and respect. It creates an environment where people are comfortable making mistakes, asking questions and suggesting new ideas, knowing that their team will support them. It's not about being 'nice' but about being open and candid.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Psychological Safety:
1. Understand the concept: Make sure you understand what psychological safety is and why it's important.
2. Use real-life examples: Using scenarios or experiences can help explain your answer.
3. Refer to the Scrum Guide: Remember the essence of the Scrum Guide, where the team needs to feel safe to fail.

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PSM I - Psychological Safety Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Psychological Safety

Question 1

During the Daily Scrum meeting, you noticed that a team member, Alice, seems uncomfortable sharing her progress on her task. How can you, as a Scrum Master, ensure psychological safety for Alice?

Implement a rule where every team member must speak for at least one minute about their tasks, forcing everyone to participate equally. This ensures no one feels singled out. Approach Alice in private after the meeting, ask about her comfort level in the meeting and suggest constructive ways for her to contribute. During the next daily scrum, allocate time for team members to share positive feedback about each other’s work, hoping it encourages Alice to open up. Conduct an anonymous survey among team members about their feelings and thoughts on the daily scrum, without directly addressing Alice.

Correct Answer: Approach Alice in private after the meeting, ask about her comfort level in the meeting and suggest constructive ways for her to contribute.

The correct answer focuses on addressing the situation with sensitivity and confidentiality, recognizing the importance of psychological safety. The first wrong answer does not directly address Alice's discomfort and might delay necessary action. The second wrong answer imposes artificial rules that could increase discomfort rather than alleviate it. The third wrong answer might create a positive atmosphere but does not directly solve the problem of Alice feeling uncomfortable sharing her task progress.

Question 2

A heated argument arises between two team members, Mike and Jane, during the sprint review. How should you, as a Scrum Master, handle this situation to maintain Psychological Safety?

Immediately escalate the situation to higher management, showing that such behaviors are not tolerated. Encourage constructive dialogue by reminding the team of the importance of respect and listening to understand, not just to respond. Organize a voting session among the rest of the team to decide who between Mike and Jane has the stronger argument. Suggest implementing a policy where any disagreement during the sprint review must be documented and reviewed in the next sprint planning to avoid public disagreements. This process would involve a detailed documentation of the disagreement, followed by an analysis session during the sprint planning to understand the root causes and discuss solutions. This procedure aims to prevent similar conflicts in the future by ensuring they are addressed systematically.

Correct Answer: Encourage constructive dialogue by reminding the team of the importance of respect and listening to understand, not just to respond.

The correct answer focuses on promoting psychological safety by fostering an environment where team members feel respected and heard. This involves facilitating respectful communication and encouraging team members to listen actively to one another. Escalating the situation to management, organizing a voting session, or implementing a policy for documenting disagreements for future analysis, while related to team dynamics and conflict resolution, do not directly support the creation of an immediate respectful and understanding atmosphere during the sprint review. These approaches could undermine the psychological safety of the team by making team members feel judged or by delaying conflict resolution.

Question 3

Team member Sarah has visibly reacted to a criticism during the Sprint Review meeting, looking upset. What measures should a Scrum Master take to ensure Psychological Safety in this scenario?

Encourage Sarah to share her thoughts about the criticism in the next Daily Scrum to promote transparency among team members. Arrange a team-building activity unrelated to work to improve team dynamics and indirectly address the tension. Privately discuss the incident with Sarah to understand her perspective and feelings, then separately remind the team about the importance of respectful and constructive communication. Implement a rule that all criticisms or negative feedback must be written and submitted to the Scrum Master before being shared with the team, to be vetted for appropriateness and constructiveness.

Correct Answer: Privately discuss the incident with Sarah to understand her perspective and feelings, then separately remind the team about the importance of respectful and constructive communication.

A Scrum Master must ensure a safe environment where team members feel respected and valued. Directly addressing the incident in a one-on-one meeting respects Sarah's dignity and provides an opportunity for a calm discussion away from the group. Educating the team separately on communication emphasizes the importance of constructive feedback without singling Sarah out. Encouraging Sarah to bring up the issue in the Daily Scrum could further expose her to an uncomfortable situation and may not be appropriate for the purpose of that ceremony. Team-building activities might improve dynamics but do not directly address the problem at hand. Requiring criticisms to be vetted could create unnecessary bureaucracy and hinder open dialogue.

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