What are the links between Psychological Safety (PS), Lean construction, and performance? A study soon to be posted found higher PS in Lean compared to non-lean.
A small study of 17 construction workers (managers, engineers, trades) based in the US explored the links between these facets.
Overall they found:
· Lean implementation, with elements like respect for people, trust, leadership and continuous improvement “positively affect employees’ psychological safety”
· People reported that PS affects their performance and motivation, “implying that a psychologically safe environment makes them feel confident”
· They also emphasised that Lean principles “contribute to psychological safety especially respect for people and no blame culture”
· Construction workers feel safer psychologically in Lean projects compared to non-lean projects
While more participants in Lean projects felt psychologically safer compared to non-lean/traditional, overall the “majority of the construction employees do not feel psychologically safe at their workplaces either in traditional or Lean construction projects due to a number of reasons such as heavy workload, and deadline pressures” (emphasis added).
Female participants were more likely to report problems with PS and disclosure of mistakes.
So, while these limited findings are somewhat optimistic for Lean, it’s pretty damning for US construction industry (again, based on a limited sample).
Ref: Demirkesen, S., Sadikoglu, E., & Jayamanne, E. (2021). Construction Economics and Building, 21(3), 159-175.
Study link: https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.146095460071864
SafetyInsights.org 
One thought on “Links between psychological safety and performance in Lean vs non-Lean US construction”