Google's groundbreaking research back in 2016 into team effectiveness revealed a surprising yet powerful conclusion: psychological safety is the key to team success.
At its core, psychological safety refers to a shared belief within a team that members can express their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment or negative consequences.
Once considered a ‘soft skill’, this concept has emerged as the single most crucial driver of team performance, surpassing traditional measures like dependability and structure.
Psych safety is the single most crucial driver of team performance
It’s no wonder. Consider that every one of us in the corporate world has probably experienced what it feels like to have psychological safety on a team and what it feels like when this element is missing.
On the positive side, it creates an environment where team members are encouraged to challenge existing ideas, propose new ones and make mistakes without facing ridicule. The profound impact of psychological safety on creativity, innovation and team cohesion is undeniable.
Yet psych safety is a blind spot for managers
Despite the clear benefits, many managers remain unaware of the extent to which psychological safety impacts their teams.
Anecdotally speaking, the prevalence of psychological safety seems to be a bit of a blind spot for managers. Ask the managers in your organization if they feel that their people are comfortable bringing up concerns, and the vast majority are likely to say ‘yes’.
But the reality may be different.
In fact, a study conducted by Crucial Learning found that 90% of the 1300 employees surveyed had felt ‘emotionally or physically unsafe to speak their mind’ more than once in the last 18 months.
The result was a host of unhealthy behaviors around communicating:
- Staying silent but feeling inauthentic (65%)
- Avoiding people (47%)
- Silently fuming and stewing (42%)
- Ruminating about all the things they’d say if they had the courage (39%)
- Faking agreement (19%)
- Severing relationships (14%)
The next poll by Crucial Learning revealed what these behaviors cost organizations:
- People who estimate their inability to hold crucial conversations cost their organization more than $50,000: 22%
- People who estimate they waste two weeks or more in the unhealthy behaviors listed above: 50%
Lack of psychological safety = clear and present danger
Risk factors associated with low psych safety go well beyond the cost of business impacts.
Environments that lack psychological safety often breed fear. When leadership fails to create a psychologically safe space, employees may conceal their ideas, feel unsupported, disengage from their work, ultimately leading to higher turnover and reduced performance.
Much more frighteningly, in high-risk safety-driven environments, a lack of psychological safety – specifically the fear of speaking up – can lead to terrible outcomes; for example, the Challenger explosion, where the lack of psychological safety led to catastrophe, is well-documented.
In these kinds of scenarios, do we blame employees for their reluctance to speak up, or the environment within which they operate for failing to listen?
Clear benefits of psych safety
Within these organizations, employees are more likely to take ownership of their roles and contribute meaningfully to organizational goals when they feel safe and supported.
When it comes to psychological safety, there’s much to embrace. Organizations that foster psychological safety benefit from improved employee engagement, reduced turnover and heightened productivity.
For knowledge work to flourish, the workplace must be one where people feel able to share their knowledge! This means sharing concerns, questions, mistakes, and half-formed ideas.
– Amy C. Edmondson
Moreover, transparency in the decision-making process enhances trust and provides employees with a deeper understanding of the company's direction. In those high-risk environments, psychological safety becomes an actual safety mechanism.
The impact of psychological safety on organizational performance is quantifiable
Gallup research shows that improving the ratio of employees who feel their opinions matter can reduce turnover by 27%, decrease safety incidents by 40%, and increase productivity by 12%. These statistics highlight the tangible benefits of cultivating a psychologically safe work environment.
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Psychologically safe workplaces |
Lack of psychological safety |
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Trust Free flow of ideas Evolving processes Innovation Support Reduced attrition Increased productivity |
No trust Ideas are concealed Process is rigid to the point of dangerous or even malicious compliance Employees feel unsupported Stagnated creativity High attrition Lower results |
Creating psychological safety on your team can start now
To foster psychological safety within a team, leaders must focus on building trust, encouraging open communication and demonstrating emotional intelligence.
Leaders should actively work to support their teams, provide opportunities for feedback and ensure that mistakes are viewed as opportunities for growth rather than failures.
Tips for creating psychological safety on your team that you can implement this week:
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1. Start with self-awareness We often don’t realise how our behaviors are perceived in the workplace and the impact they have on others. This is where self-awareness comes in. Understanding our behavioral preferences and what drives them helps us recognize our triggers and reactions, allowing us to mitigate them. It also makes us aware of how others perceive us. For example, data-driven managers who focus on getting to the point may be seen as curt, while socially motivated managers who share personal stories might be perceived as frivolous. With self-awareness, we can adjust how we show up. |
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2. Speak less, listen more The United States Supreme Court has an effective way of ensuring dominant personalities don’t monopolize discussions: Nobody speaks twice till everyone has spoken once. Ensuring that all voices are heard equally serves the additional purpose of fostering a sense of greater belonging amongst a diverse employee base. Managers should not only speak less, but they should also wait until everyone has spoken before voicing their opinions to mitigate their influence on others’ opinions. |
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3. Be visible and accessible Increase your day-to-day visibility with a centrally located office (preferably with glass partitions) that your team can see and regularly walk by. It also means using the same kitchen, water cooler and printer. In a remote team, be intentional about accessibility. Prioritize regular one-on-one meetings with individual members of your team once a week. It’s also important to schedule time for non-business meetings. |
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4. Allow for mistakes When we fail, we learn. Having said that, nobody is expecting that managers encourage or endorse largescale failure or reduce accountability. Rather, in allowing employees to make smaller mistakes as they go and learn from them, leaders will create an environment in which largescale missteps don’t happen. Courage to speak up becomes a safety redundancy that protects the organization and the people in it from dangerous mistakes. Employ a strict rule that no idea is allowed to be shot down and suggestions needn’t come with ironclad research to back them up. |
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5. Lead with empathy Empathetic leadership is at the heart of psychological safety. Taking the focus off results-focused leadership, it allows the manager to identify with others and understand their perspective. By taking a genuine interest in the people on their team, empathetic leaders know what motivates them and will adapt their managing style accordingly. |
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6. Protect your team Your team needs to know that you’re willing to lead the charge to protect them, and they won’t speak up unless they trust that you have their back. Nor will they speak up if they don’t believe you trust their judgment. Ensure clarity with your team by having frequent one-on-one meetings, and encourage workers to share their great ideas. Model and enforce confidentiality on an individual and team level, and make sure to celebrate individual successes on the team. |
Ultimately, Google’s research reinforces the idea that psychological safety is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ attribute but a vital component of team success.
By fostering a culture of psychological safety, organizations can access the true potential of their teams, driving innovation, creativity and improved results across the board.
It’s a simple yet powerful concept: When people feel safe, they perform at their best.
Insights Discovery is an L&D training system that creates high-performing teams by enhancing awareness and workplace relationships. Using a memorable four-color model to illustrate different behavioral styles, it creates a common language that connects colleagues across geographical and cultural boundaries, fostering collaboration, driving productivity and transforming workplaces.
