3 Steps to Build Psychological Safety on Your Team

Did you know that employees with lower psychological safety at work are 4x as likely to indicate a desire to quit their jobs? And 31% indicate they are not motivated to do their best work.[1]

Research suggests that psychological safety is a key component of healthy team dynamics. Unfortunately, many managers don’t know what they can do to help cultivate it on their teams, and HR doesn’t always have the bandwidth or guidance on how to help them. There are, however, practical actions managers can take to begin building psychological safety on their teams. We’ve summarized three of these actions in the article below, or for an in-depth overview, watch the following video of our webinar, "Building Psychological Safety on Your Team."

We’ve summarized three of these actions in the article below, or for an in-depth overview, watch the following video of our webinar, "Building Psychological Safety on Your Team."

Continue reading to learn how to begin building psychological safety on your team or share with your managers to help them get started. 

What is psychological safety?

Broadly speaking, psychological safety means that a team has a common understanding that they can take risks, share their thoughts and worries, ask questions, and acknowledge errors without fear of negative consequences. It is having confidence that no one will embarrass, belittle or reject them for speaking up.

When we have psychological safety, people feel easy about asking for the help and getting the support they need to be successful in their job. In short, psychological safety is the key foundation for healthy, high-functioning teams who are able to be agile, creative and happy. Microsoft People Scientist Craig Ramsay researches employee wellbeing and belonging in the workplace. He identifies psychological safety as a key component of employee wellbeing needs and says a “psychologically safe environment promotes interpersonal trust and higher team performance.”[2]

It’s safe to acknowledge that psychological safety is a net positive. But how crucial is it for work? Is this a nice-to-have or is it a critical component for high-functioning teams? The data on psychological safety speaks volumes about its significance.

Psychological safety is perhaps the most crucial foundation for successful and engaged teams and should therefore be something that managers actively work on. While the task of beginning to build psychological safety on your team might feel intimidating, we have three strategies to help you get started.

1. Check your negative reactivity

One of the first steps to fostering psychological safety is to check reactivity that is defensive or negative. Negative reactivity is an impulsive response often characterized by knee-jerk reactions. This can look like anything from a sudden feeling of defensiveness, racing heart, irritation, feeling insulted, flash of anger, or a desire to reject or shut down the person by explaining why they’re wrong. Managers who react this way teach their employees that it isn’t safe to express their questions, concerns, or feelings. Conversely, managers who react to their employees with openness, curiosity, and respect help foster an environment of inclusion.

There are two guideposts to help you begin working on checking your negative reactivity:

1. Build self-awareness

a. If you notice yourself feeling activated (irritated, insulted, etc.) by something one of your employees is saying, take a step back (“let’s circle back to this later”). Slowing down and pausing to self-reflect often provides greater clarity & allows more precision in your response.

2. Resist taking it personally

a. It’s natural to relate things back to yourself, but strong leadership means recognizing that while sometimes it is about you, sometimes it’s not. Ask follow-up questions to resist taking things personally and to get more insight into what your employee is expressing. This kind of response replaces blame with curiosity and supports a safe and honest environment for everyone.

2. Listen without agenda

Another strategy for cultivating psychological safety is to listen without agenda. Listening without agenda is a practice where the listener’s primary focus is on understanding and empathizing with the speaker rather than problem-solving or explaining. Managers often fall into the trap of thinking that listening to their employees is either to get new information or to solve their problems. But listening is also about being with people, seeing and hearing them, and being humans together.

Listening without agenda is a strategy for putting this into practice by cultivating genuine curiosity and openness to the speaker’s message without trying to control the conversation or impose one’s own ideas.

This kind of listening builds trust between managers and their employees by demonstrating respect for people’s perspectives and experiences. When leaders actively listen without judgment, they signal that they value their employees’ contributions and are open to learning from them.

3. Model the vulnerability you hope to see

Lastly, model the vulnerability you hope to see. Trust is cultivated over time and cannot be achieved by simply declaring oneself a safe manager and expecting immediate, complete transparency from the team. People are more inclined to risk vulnerability when they see it’s received well, when they see that it’s not punished, interpreted as weakness or dismissed.

Managers can model this to employees by admitting and normalizing mistakes. Emphasize the growth that comes from mistakes by sharing what you’ve learned and how it impacts future decisions. In short, model to employees that the emphasis is on growing, learning, becoming better and not getting it 100% right every time. This practice makes room for human error and invites risk-taking and creativity. By admitting fallibility, leaders build a foundation of trust where it’s safe to make mistakes, to not know something, and to have room to improve.

Modeled vulnerability encourages team members to share their own vulnerabilities, leading to a more open and authentic workplace.

Conclusion

Building psychological safety on your team is essential for fostering a productive and innovative work environment. By checking your reactivity, listening without agenda, and modeling the vulnerability you hope to see, managers can create a culture where team members feel safe to express their thoughts, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences. These practices not only enhance team dynamics but also contribute to an inclusive and innovative work environment where everyone can thrive.

To learn more, access our latest resource on this topic here:

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[1] 2024 Work in America Survey: Psychological Safety in the Changing Workplace (apa.org)

[2] Craig Ramsay, “Employee Happiness and Success in the New World of Work,” People Success 2.0 Research. April 2024