tl;dr
Psychological safety is essential for good teamwork, allowing team members to take risks and share ideas without fear of judgment. Building it involves showing openness, encouraging communication, responding positively to feedback, and learning from mistakes. Together, these steps create a supportive environment that boosts collaboration and creativity, leading to stronger team and organizational results.
Introduction
In today’s workplaces, psychological safety has become essential for building strong, effective teams. The idea, introduced by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, is simple: people need to feel safe taking risks, sharing their ideas, admitting mistakes, and asking questions without worrying about being judged or facing negative consequences.
The highlighted “team” aspect of psychological safety is crucial because psychological safety is a group-level term that influences how the team learns and, ultimately, impacts both its dynamic and organizational performance.
Feeling safe to speak up isn’t just a personal trait—it’s something that develops from the group as a whole. Studies even show that people working closely together tend to share similar levels of psychological safety, which can vary between different teams.
Project Aristotle
Google's Project Aristotle was an in-depth study designed to identify what makes some teams more effective than others. Starting in 2012, the research analyzed over 180 teams, looking at various factors such as team composition, communication patterns, and work styles. The key finding? The most critical factor for team success and effectivenes was psychological safety.
Project Aristotle showed that when team members feel psychologically safe—free from fear of judgment or retaliation—they are more likely to share ideas, take initiative, and collaborate effectively. This safe environment promotes innovation, productivity, and learning, making psychological safety the most important driver of team effectiveness.
To better understand how psychological safety works, it can be broken down into four “stages”:
- Inclusion safety – This is the foundation where members feel safe to belong to the team. They feel valued, included, and appreciated, which creates a comfortable environment to be themselves.
- Learner safety – In this stage, members feel safe to ask questions, seek help, and experiment. They can make and admit small mistakes, knowing it’s part of the learning process.
- Contributor safety – Here, team members feel secure in offering their own ideas and participating actively without fear of embarrassment. Sharing ideas can be challenging, but when contributor safety is present, members feel confident doing so.
- Challenger safety – The highest level, where team members feel empowered to question ideas, offer constructive criticism, and challenge authority when necessary. This leads to meaningful discussions and improvements in team dynamics and outcomes.
How Luppa measures psychological safety
To better understand psychological safety within teams, organizations can use tools like Luppa along with regular employee surveys. By asking targeted questions, Luppa gathers insights into how comfortable team members feel about sharing ideas and raising concerns, giving a clear view of psychological safety levels across the organization.
This data helps to identify trends, spot patterns, and highlight areas where psychological safety might be lower. By reviewing these insights, leaders can address specific issues and take steps to create a more open and supportive environment, leading to stronger teamwork and better results.
How to create an environment of psychological safety
Google's Project Aristotle was an in-depth study designed to identify what makes some teams more effective than others. Starting in 2012, the research analyzed over 180 teams, looking at various factors such as team composition, communication patterns, and work styles.
- Encourage open communication
Actively invite team members to share ideas, concerns, and feedback. Use open-ended questions to ensure that everyone feels heard and that their contributions matter. - Respond constructively
When team members speak up, respond with curiosity rather than criticism. Approach mistakes as learning opportunities to promote a growth mindset and remove fear of blame. - Model openness and vulnerability
Leaders should welcome feedback, encourage risk-taking and acknowledge their mistakes. When leaders show vulnerability, they set a tone where team members feel safe to be honest and bring their true selves to work. - Celebrate learning from mistakes
Recognize both achievements and learning moments from setbacks. Reinforcing that growth comes from trial and error helps team members feel safe taking risks and innovating.
Conclusion
Psychological safety is essential for building strong teams in today’s workplace. When team members feel safe to share ideas, acknowledge mistakes, and take risks, it leads to better collaboration, creativity, and overall performance. By focusing on practices that promote openness, encourage feedback, and celebrate learning from mistakes, leaders can create an environment where everyone feels valued and motivated. Ultimately, making psychological safety a priority helps teams and organizations succeed.
Keep reading our blogs to discover more about employee engagement and practical tools that can assist you with employee retention.
