What enables some teams to outperform consistently, beating goals and innovating ahead of the competition? Decades of research suggests a key factor is psychological safety - a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. First coined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, psychological safety is emerging as a critical driver of team learning, engagement, creativity, and performance.
By understanding what psychological safety is, why it matters, and how to cultivate it, leaders can create an environment where people feel free to express ideas, ask for help, and take smart risks - unlocking their full potential. In this article, we’ll explore evidence-based insights and practices to help make your workplace psychologically safe and thriving.
What is Psychological Safety at Work?
Psychological safety doesn’t refer to physical safety, but rather to an interpersonal climate of trust. It's a shared belief that a team is safe for people to engage in behaviors like:
- Voicing opinions, questions and concerns
- Seeking feedback, assistance and clarification
- Reporting errors and failures
- Experimenting and thinking outside the box
- Challenging processes, policies, ideas
In psychologically safe teams, people are comfortable being themselves. There is confidence that members will not embarrass, reject or punish anyone for speaking up. This stems from mutual care and respect, healthy team dynamics, and appropriate norms reinforced by leaders.
Psychological safety isn’t the same as groupthink either - in fact, it enables a diversity of ideas to be exchanged. Edmondson’s research found it creates "a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish someone for speaking up.”
Why Psychological Safety in the Workplace Matters
Extensive data underscores the performance benefits of psychological safety at work. Google’s Aristotle project on team effectiveness found it to be the number one predictor of successful teams. Psychology safety facilitates:
- Information sharing. Ideas and knowledge flow more freely.
- Learning. People discuss mistakes and failures openly to gain insights.
- Creativity. Team members feel safe to brainstorm and experiment.
- Engagement. Work is more meaningful and fulfilling in an environment of trust.
- Risk-taking. People are more willing to try new approaches.
- Speaking up. Concerns about ethics, conduct or improvement ideas are shared.
Alternatively, lack of psychological safety creates an environment where people hesitate to speak up because they:
- Fear being judged negatively
- Worry about damaging relationships
- Feel embarrassed to ask for help
- Avoid challenging team norms
This stifles collaboration, innovation, and problem-solving. Ultimately, resources like talent, knowledge and creativity go underutilized when psychological safety is missing.
How Leaders Can Help Create Psychological Safety at Work
Leaders play an indispensable role in cultivating team psychological safety through modeling behaviors like:
- Sharing their own vulnerabilities and weaknesses - this signals it's acceptable for others too.
- Actively seeking diverse perspectives - this shows all voices are valued.
- Admitting their mistakes matter-of-factly - this makes it normal to discuss errors and learn from them.
- Inviting participation from quiet voices - this draws out more introverted team members.
- Offering help non-judgmentally when people struggle - this creates comfort in seeking assistance.
- Defining clear guidelines for handling disagreements - this enables constructive debate of ideas.
Team leaders also shape psychological safety through:
- Onboarding: Setting expectations early that speaking up about concerns is expected and appreciated.
- Feedback practices: Providing ongoing coaching in a way that builds confidence.
- Response to failure: Analyzing what went wrong without blaming and shaming.
- Diversity and inclusion: Ensuring all backgrounds and personalities feel welcomed.
- Open door policy: Being consistently available to discuss problems employees face.
Signs of Psychological Safety in Work Teams
How can you assess the degree of psychological safety in your workplace? Look for these behaviors and norms:
- Employees openly ask for help without hesitation.
- People admit and report mistakes to learn from them.
- Meeting participants pose questions without qualms.
- Constructive debates happen, with minimal interpersonal tension.
- Challenging of status quo processes takes place.
- Quieter voices speak up and share their perspective.
- People openly discuss how to improve without taking feedback personally.
The higher the psychological safety, the more likely you’ll observe these behaviors. However, team psychological safety isn't an all or nothing proposition. It can improve through concerted effort by leadership.
Proven Ways to Develop Psychological Safety
Sustaining psychological safety requires going beyond lip service - teams need to experience real care and inclusion. Additional impactful practices include:
- Team bonding activities: Retreats, off-sites and social events to strengthen trust in a less task-focused setting.
- Anonymous feedback channels: Allowing open and honest input without fear of identification.
- Conflict resolution training: Equipping people to hold crucial conversations and debates constructively.
- Leader rounding: Regular touchpoints between leadership and employees to take the pulse.
- Onboarding training: Setting the norm early that speaking up is expected and respected.
- Diversity and inclusion initiatives: Ensuring all people and perspectives feel equally welcomed.
In today's complex business environment, solving challenges requires leveraging diversity of thought across teams. Psychological safety enables this by removing barriers to participation. Workers who feel safe to engage in candid discussion, take risks, and reveal vulnerabilities are free to do their best work - enabling the entire organization to flourish.
While leaders play a central role, cultivating psychological safety is a shared responsibility. When people at all levels build mutual trust and care, they create a culture that unlocks higher performance through engagement, creativity and agility. By recognizing why psychological safety matters and taking proactive steps to foster it, your organization can gain a strategic advantage.