Five simple ways to start building psychological safety in your team

Psychological safety is a term used to describe how safe it is to be vulnerable with those you work with. It’s a powerful and useful term to describe the emotional climate and behaviour of a team. I love being able to name things we institutively understand but haven’t yet fully defined or labelled. Once I heard the term ‘psychological safety’ I knew it was an incredibly important topic for leaders to not only name, but build.

Being able to observe what’s happening in us and around us, put it into words, and describe it to others helps build shared language and understanding. It helps us access ideas and insights. Because when we can talk about it, we can build toward shared understanding. This act of sharing, exploring and rumbling with observations, feelings and feedback without punishment or judgment, is the essence of psychological safety. Importantly, it provides a sense that we’re not alone in our worries, questions or concerns and that connection gives us comfort and a sense of belonging.

Here are five simple ways you can build psychological safety in your team at work:

1. The two-word check-in

Starting meetings with a two-word check-in from each team member is a quick and very effective way to do a team pulse check. It’s a great way to build self-awareness in teams members, and identify if a team member could do with a one-on-one check-in or some extra support. Don’t forget to role model this for your team, by making sure you also do the check-in. But try not to always be the first to share, so you avoid authority bias. And one way to avoid the bandwagon effect is to have everyone first write down their two words all at the same time before anyone has shared, and then take turns sharing what they’ve written (Brené Brown describes this technique in Dare To Lead™ as a ‘turn and learn’.)

2. Commit to a process to operationalise your values

Cultures thrive when there is a shared language and commitment to a set of behaviours that align with the stated values. Follow this step-by-step resource to build a team who are ready to put its values into practice.

3. Ask the team for their ideas. Make it a genuine collaboration

Use tools like polls on Zoom, Mentimeter or Miro to gather [anonymous] feedback about team culture. Ask them what they need from the team in order to show up wholeheartedly and authentically, what gets in the way of that happening, and what support looks like for them. Build some shared norms about safely navigating differing opinions and disagreements. Ask the question ‘what would help to make it safe for people to share their opinions and/or disagree? What other steps would you like to take to make it safer?’ Give each other permission to practice trying on new behaviours and ways of working as you stretch into building your collective courage muscles.

4. Start a brave and fresh conversation

Does your company or team reward authenticity or reward “fitting in”? If it feels more like a “fitting in” culture, is there something you want to do to help create a culture of true belonging? Review these Conversation Starters from ‘Braving the Wilderness’ at work.

5. Build a shared language

Building a shared language can take time. The fastest way to build a shared language is to share information and experiences. One suggestion is to watch Brené Brown’s TED Talk on vulnerability. Watch the talk and discuss it with your team. Team training is another great way. The Dare to Lead workshops are designed to provide this emotional literacy and can help your team build a language that supports psychological safety for the longer term.