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Build a Psychologically Safe Team and Boost Results

The Linchpin of Team Performance

Think of the best team you’ve ever been on. What made it so great? Were team members able to voice concerns freely? Did you harvest innovative ideas through a thicket of duds? And when you brought those duds to the brainstorm session, did everyone just gather them up and keep going? Maybe you had a boss who responded to your whopper of a mistake with “Okay, what did you learn?” If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you were (or are?!) on a team with psychological safety.

In the mid-2000s, a team at Google conducted a multi-year study called Project Aristotle to understand what distinguishes the highest performing teams from the rest. Delving deep into decades of data because they are, well, Google, the researchers examined five key factors of team performance: dependability, structure and clarity, meaning of the work, impact of the work, and psychological safety. They found that psychological safety was the most important factor in determining team success.

Understanding Psychological Safety

So, what is psychological safety? Based on Harvard organizational expert, Amy Edmonson’s decades-long research, psychological safe environments are those where team members feel comfortable speaking up, sharing ideas, admitting mistakes, and asking for help without fear of negative consequences. Distinguished from garden-variety trust, which exists on an individual level, this phenomenon exists on a group or team level. Notably, while individual members of the team may not all like each other or even trust each other, they will identify the team as a place where the norms supporting psychological safety are in place. These norms might include speaking up; admitting to errors and learn from them; seeking feedback and assistance; and speaking truth to power.

In Edmondson’s groundbreaking book, The Fearless Organization, she writes that leaders who view all team members as invested, crucial contributors; invite participation through well-framed question; and respond productively to feedback and ideas lay the foundation for psychologically safe environments. She further shows that teams where the members share freely, challenge frequently, and maintain a learning orientation outperform those where there’s “an epidemic of silence.” Rarely does having nothing to say mean there’s nothing to say.

A common misconception is that psychological safety means being nice all the time and makes it hard to hold people accountable for mistakes. Psychologically safe teams don’t remove accountability; they remove fear of accountability. Edmonson writes,

“While it can be motivating to be afraid of missing a deadline, or afraid of failing the customer, or afraid of the prowess of the competition, being afraid of one’s boss or colleagues is not only unhelpful . . . it’s downright risky.”

Whether it’s fear of recrimination, being laughed at, thought of poorly, or fear of being dismissed, fear breeds silence and silence kills innovation and creativity.

Artists know this better than anyone. Ben Affleck famously told Matt Damon when they were writing Good Will Hunting, “Judge me for how good my good ideas are and not how bad my bad ideas are.”  And as the Google folks discovered, psychologically safe teams offer more diverse and creative solutions, and generate more revenue.

Leaders Must Lead

Creating a psychologically safe environment requires conscious effort and commitment from leaders at all levels. Edmonson details the process of setting the stage, inviting participation, and responding productively to create the conditions for establishing and maintaining safe work environments. Consider a few strategies:

o Lead by Example: Admit your own mistakes and show vulnerability

o Encourage Open Dialogue: Create opportunities for team members to share their thoughts and concerns. Frame open ended questions thoughtfully

o Practice Active Listening: Solicit your team’s ideas and close the feedback loop when you act on what you learn

o Embrace a Growth Mindset: Treat less-than-ideal work as a learning problem, not an execution problem

o Conduct “After Action” Discussions. Acknowledge and discuss failures openly, focusing on lessons learned

o Give Tons of Positive Feedback. “Catch” people doing good things, big and small

o Emphasize Purpose: Articulate what’s at stake, why it matters, and for whom

In an era where innovation and adaptation are crucial for success, psychological safety has become a cornerstone of high-performing teams. By fostering an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, share ideas, and be their authentic selves, organizations can unlock their full potential. As leaders and team members, we all have a role to play in creating and maintaining psychological safety in our workplaces.

Remember, building psychological safety is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and attention. But the rewards – increased innovation, better problem-solving, and higher employee satisfaction – are well worth the investment.

If you’d like to understand psychological safety better or learn how your team might build a more psychologically safe environment, Careerstone can help. Whether you’re looking for team discovery and development work or training, we’d love to hear from you!