What is psychological safety?
Psychological safety, according to Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, ‘creates a team climate where people are encouraged to take risks fearlessly and nurtures mutual trust, support and respect’. Later, Simon Sinek later wrote about psychological safety in his 2014 book “Leaders Eat Last.” He wrote that great leadership is about making employees feel safe so they can focus on work without fear for their own survival. Psychological safety is vital for high-performing teams, with psychological safety in place teams are more likely to share their opinions when they differ from one another, opening up a realm of diverse ideas that you may otherwise have not had.
5 signs your workplace doesn’t have psychological safety
We’re going to share 5 red flags to look out for which indicate you don’t have a psychologically safe workplace:
1. Everyone seems to be being ‘too polite’
When people don’t feel safe enough to speak up, they’ll often sit quietly in meetings and nod and agree to other suggestions as a way of being polite. They may not agree with what is being said but don’t feel like they can challenge the status quo. If an employee felt like their ideas were valued, they’re less likely to internally label something a “dumb idea” or hesitate to bring new ideas up in a meeting.
2. The team just aren’t working together
With psychological safety in place, employees will open up, throw ideas in and speak up with new thoughts and ways of working. When there’s a lack of trust in the workplace, it takes a lot of work to manage a team toward success. Team members who don’t trust one another or feel they can’t trust their leader are less likely to speak up or share their ideas; this creates a negative environment that leads to lower and lower psychological safety. 
3. You’re not facing tough decisions
To get to the root cause of a problem, you need to hear from a diverse group of indviduals. Speaking about tough decisions isn’t easy, but with a safe space, it should become easier overtime; this is helped further by fostering a culture of regular feedback, wherby all employees can share their thoughts and open up without fear of judgement.
4. You’re conscious that a few people seem to be dominating the conversation
A reluctance to speak up can be particularly problematic. If you’re witnessing one or a few people dominating with the rest of the group sitting back and not contributing, it might mean they’re scared to because of repercussions or judgment. Cultivating psychological safety fosters an environment where all team members feel empowered to question the behaviours and decisions of others.
5. You don’t seem to be able to innovate or take any risks
Healthy, open debate is what propels teams toward breakthrough innovations. But that isn’t possible if you can’t seem to get your team to speak up. Psychological safety is about employees feeling free to share ideas, to be who they are, and to contribute without some fear of retaliation. Some employees may be reluctant to share their ideas because they think colleagues will think they’re stupid. When a workplace culture rejects people’s new ideas, it creates a culture that precludes innovation.
How can psychological safety benefit your business?
Having psychological safety in your workplace can benefit your business in more ways than one, including:
- Improved employee engagement and wellbeing
- Stronger diversity and inclusion
- Increased retention rates
- Greater collaboration
- Increased employee performance and productivity
- Enabling innovative thinking
Psychological safety is an enabler for innovation
A big benefit of a psychologically safe environment is innovation. Psychological safety is a crucial pillar in enabling an organisation to be innovative. 
Psychological safety results in team members feeling more engaged and motivated because they feel that their contributions matter and that they’re able to speak up without fear of retribution. People are more comfortable with speaking up and sharing their opinions or concerns; this leads to a diverse range of perspectives being heard and considered.
By celebrating a diversity of ideas and opinions, psychological safety sparks innovation. When team members are emotionally secure in the workplace, they tend to be more engaged and productive; this means that employees are more likely to speak up with new ideas without fear of rejection but can also feel safe to learn from mistakes.
Psychological safety begins with the top, your leaders. To support and enable a psychologically safe environment, leaders need to be transparent, authentic, and reliable. Leaders must show through their actions that failing is ok; it’s not enough to say, ‘It doesn’t matter if you fail’. A culture that is supportive is needed for innovation to thrive.
How can you create a psychologically safe workplace?
Creating a psychologically safe workplace takes time; it doesn’t happen overnight. It often requires a culture change in your organisation and must start at the top with your leadership.
Communicate the important of psychological safety
Creating a culture of psychological safety beings with talking openly about this concept and your expectations of your employees to contribute to this environment. Communicate the type of behaviour you expect to see and those behaviours you won’t tolerate. It’s key that you communicate the benefits of psychological safety and what this means to the organisation.
Normalise vulnerability
Show that it’s ok to fail and learn from mistakes, it’s ok to to share ideas that others may not agree with and to voice opinions that may differ from the rest of the team. It’s normal to experience some anxiety as a consequence of feeling vulnerable.
Regular, clear feedback
Clear feedback is pivotal to psychological safety in the workplace. By respectfully and consistently providing timely feedback, you can reinforce the positive work that your employees do and course-correct them in development areas. 
Make it easier for everyone to have a voice
Some employees might find it easy to speak up in large groups, whereas others may prefer a one-to-one conversation. It’s important that you cater to everyones needs and provide your employees with different ways of communicating.
Next steps
A psychologically safe workplace is essential for enabling employees to contribute their best ideas and drive innovation. By fostering a culture of open communication and valuing diverse perspectives, teams can create an environment where healthy conflict and risk-taking are encouraged and everyone feels heard and valued.
To find out more about how a psychologically safe workplace can help you to achieve a high-performing, engaged and ambitious workforce, our useful guide takes you through the 7 principles you’ll need to master to create a healthy culture, where ideas are celebrated!