Practical Psychological Safety

During the expert session, Tharaka Gunarathne encourages active audience participation through the use of the Mentimeter app for interactive activities, Q&A sessions, and sharing personal experiences as a means to discuss the importance of trust in creating psychological safety within teams and workplaces.

• Cultivating Trust for Psychological Safety: Understanding the importance of trust in building psychologically safe work environments and implementing evidence-based behaviors that increase oxytocin production and promote inclusion is crucial for enhancing team collaboration and productivity.
• Being Aware of Biases: Recognizing cognitive biases such as the Dunning-Kruger effect, which can hinder our ability to create psychological safety, and continuously striving for improvement is essential in fostering open communication, respect, and empathy among team members.
• Practicing Inclusive Behaviors: Implementing behaviors that promote psychological safety, such as clear communication, active listening, and recognizing excellence, can help build trust within teams and create a more inclusive, supportive work environment where all voices are valued and encouraged to contribute their ideas and perspectives.

In this expert session, Dr. Tharaka Gunarathne, also known as Dr. T, a psychiatrist, consultant, and expert in psychological safety, explores the significance of trust in creating a psychologically safe work environment. He begins by engaging participants with interactive activities to encourage openness and connection among attendees.

 

Dr. T highlights the importance of understanding the science behind trust, which is essential for fostering psychological safety. He discusses how oxytocin, a molecular marker of trust, leads to increased collaboration, better relationships, and higher productivity. The expert also shares insights into the unconscious biases that influence our judgments and perceptions, emphasizing the need for self-awareness to promote inclusion and build trust among team members.

 

Throughout the session, Dr. T offers evidence-based strategies for increasing trust and building a psychologically safe work environment. These practices include recognizing excellence in each other, effective communication, intentional relationship-building, whole-person growth, and admitting uncertainty together. By actively practicing these behaviors, teams can create a culture of trust that is crucial for overall team success.

 

Dr. T acknowledges the challenges that junior staff may face when speaking up in the presence of their seniors and offers strategies to promote psychological safety for all members. He encourages participants to reflect on their current trust-building behaviors and consider ways they can improve them to enhance team performance and overall well-being.

 

The expert session continues as Dr. T discusses the complexity of psychological safety in the workplace, emphasizing that it requires a combination of individual and organizational efforts. He encourages participants to be aware of their own behaviors and how they contribute to creating or hindering psychological safety.

 

Dr. T also shares tips on increasing psychological safety, such as clear communication, active listening, and moving your face during virtual meetings to engage others. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and improvement in fostering a psychologically safe environment and leaves participants with an inspiring question: "What if your organization could become a template for psychological safety done well?"

 

Throughout the session, Dr. T encourages open dialogue and questions, addressing concerns regarding disrespectful behavior from colleagues towards contractors within organizations. He emphasizes the need for managers to intervene and address mistrust behaviors to ensure psychological safety for all parties involved.

Your Brain at Work: Neuroscience Keys for Optimised Mind & Performance

To achieve different results, you must first change behavior by changing the mind. In this high-energy session, Dr. T will share practical tips to help individuals and teams optimize their mind and performance, including enhancing energy, assessing wellness, focusing on controllables, debunking the multitasking myth, and maintaining motivation.

 

Less Stressed (but more productive)

Stress and burnout are increasingly affecting workplace wellbeing, performance, and company profits. In this practical, science-based lecture, Dr. T will explain the mechanics of stress, how to identify burnout, and effective strategies to combat it, including the Burnout Triangle and the Stress Bucket Model, to enhance both personal and professional wellbeing.

 

You CAN improve your memory

"What’s their name again? Why did I walk into this room? What were my 4 actions from that last team meeting? Where did I put my car keys?! Aaaargh!” We all have ‘memory’ but we all seem to want to improve it. But how? After all, those with a good memory are often more productive, accurate and perceived to be more reliable and trustworthy. In this insightful, fun and massively practical Leqture, Dr. T will take you on a journey into the mechanics of memory, explain why our brains forget and teach you some techniques to radically improve your memory power.

- Very interesting and inspiring seminar that made it clear how I can positively affect psychological safety for myself and my colleagues. We see and experience the world for who we are.

- I learned a lot about psychological safety and the steps I need to take to help others feel psychologically safe.

- Trust is even more important than I was aware of.