Do Your Team Feel Safe? – Building Psychological Safety in Teams

With being a leader that works in a “People First” way, ensuring I create an environment where people feel safe is absolutely key.

Psychological safety is essential for fostering an environment where people feel comfortable being their authentic selves at work (this is a whole blog post in itself, watch out for this one in the future!).

It’s not just about avoiding blame or judgment—it’s about creating a space where your team feel supported and valued, no matter their role or perspective.

So, how do you cultivate psychological safety within your teams?

Over the years as I’ve read more about Psychological Safety, I’ve learned and tried to demonstrate the following six traits to make it a safe environment for all.

1. Lead with Vulnerability
   As a leader, it always starts with you (nod to Tim Robert’s ). Own your mistakes, be upfront about uncertainties, and show that it’s okay to not have all the answers. Vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s the foundation of trust. This is something my team will say has been something front and centre for me, they know everything about my struggles, my frustrations and challenges outside of work too. To effectively lead them, they need to know I’m human too…
2. Listen, Actually Listen
   Create opportunities for every voice to be heard. It’s not enough to have an open-door policy; actively seek input, acknowledge contributions, and ensure people feel their opinions matter. My meeting style usually is that where everyone will get time to contribute, there’s no hierarchy and usually collaborative discussions. I try to push for no one to be spoken over and that there is mutual respect in the discussion. This helps for people to feel listened to.
3. Diversity is Strength
   Encourage different viewpoints. Invite disagreements, and frame them as learning moments rather than conflicts. A diverse team brings a breadth of ideas that can only thrive in a blame-free environment. I love being challenged, I know I’m not always right and would never try to be. The worst feeling is knowing you’ve not got it all nailed, but no one challenges because they feel they can’t. Ensuring disagreement and challenge is good, helps a better solution come to the fore. If everyone thinks the same, there’s no way to improve and evolve.
4. Feedback That Feeds Growth
   Feedback is critical, but how it’s delivered makes all the difference. Be constructive, focus on future improvement, and approach these conversations with empathy. And remember, feedback isn’t just for your team—leaders should welcome it, too. I encourage feedback in all directions. I seek feedback from my teams regularly as I know I need to keep improving to be the best leader I can for them. I try to give actionable feedback regularly to the team too, as I know I’d appreciate the same.
5. Set the Tone for Inclusivity
   Establish clear norms for respectful collaboration, so everyone knows what behaviour is expected. Transparency about goals, processes, and decisions helps reduce uncertainty and builds alignment. This comes down to removing hierarchical barriers and ensuring there is a level playing field. There may also be cultural differences which lead to a part of a team feeling they can’t contribute. Being inclusive would involve making it a level playing fields for them too.
6. Embrace Experimentation
   Support your team in taking calculated risks and innovating. Failures aren’t the end of the road—they’re stepping stones for growth. Celebrate the effort, not just the outcome. I’ve been burned many times when I’ve convinced leadership to let me try something and I’ve failed and then had fingers pointed at me. Ensure your team has your backing to try something., and if it fails, encourage them to look at what they’ve learned and how they could evolve for next time. Progress will have been made, just maybe not as far as you wanted to.

Measuring Psychological Safety

How do you know it’s a safe environment? It’s important to assess and find out how safe people feel. Try to consider some of the following:

• Conducting anonymous surveys to get honest feedback about the team environment.
• Observing patterns in team dynamics, such as the frequency and quality of contributions from all members.
• Asking reflective questions in retrospectives or one-on-ones, like “Do you feel comfortable raising concerns or challenging the status quo?”

Benefits of Psychological Safety

If you get it right, you are on to a winner! If the team feel safe, the sky is truly the limit. Your tteams are more likely to:

• Innovate and think creatively.
• Address challenges collaboratively and proactively.
• Experience higher morale and lower turnover.

By nurturing psychological safety, you’re not just creating a happier workplace—you’re building an environment where people can truly thrive.

When individuals feel empowered to speak up, share ideas, or admit missteps, the team grows stronger, more cohesive, and far more capable of tackling challenges head-on.

Have you been in an environment where psychological safety has been evident? Have you experience where it hasn’t? It makes a big difference and there is always more learning to do to get it right. And what worked for one team, may not work for the next…