Helping leaders build trust, and create the conditions for people to speak up
Because the best teams aren't the ones that just get along
When people describe the best team they’ve ever been part of, they rarely mention metrics or outcomes; they talk about trust, respect, and feeling safe to be themselves. This workshop helps leaders understand what psychological safety really is (and isn’t), how to spot it, and how to build it deliberately in their own team. Grounded in wellbeing science and Google’s own research into team performance, the session equips leaders to become the “cultural architects” their team needs.
Psychological safety is also touched on in our Leading Mentally Healthy Teams workshop, if you’re looking for a broader session that covers it alongside other leadership topics.
Delivery details
Format
Online or in-person
Duration
1 or 2 hour sessions available (online or in-person)
Group size
Varies by duration and format
Tailored
To suit organisational contextKey learning outcomes
Participants will:
- Understand what psychological safety is, and the common myths around it
- Learn the difference between healthy “intellectual friction” and unhelpful “social friction”
- Recognise the 4 stages of psychological safety, from inclusion to challenger safety
- Identify the indicators of a psychologically safe team
- Build confidence to speak up and have difficult conversations
- Apply learnings to real workplace scenarios
Why this matters now
Psychological safety is no longer a “nice to have”, it’s foundational to how teams perform. This shift is driven by three key realities:
- Business impact, with Google’s own research (Project Aristotle) finding psychological safety was the single biggest predictor of a high performing team
- Trust impact, with people at high-trust companies reporting 74% less stress, 50% higher productivity and 76% more engagement than those at low-trust companies
- Human impact, with only 56% of Australian workers feeling comfortable talking about their mental health at work, and a quarter exposed to a harmful workplace experience in the past year
Creating psychological safety takes deliberate, ongoing effort from leaders, it doesn’t happen by accident.
It starts with safety, not just skills
Psychological safety is often mistaken for a culture of agreement. It isn’t. It’s about candid feedback, open disagreement, and admitting mistakes without fear of reprisal. The goal is to increase “intellectual friction,” where different ideas and challenges to the status quo are welcomed, while minimising “social friction,” the defensiveness and blame that shuts people down. Common indicators of a psychologically safe team include:
- Conversational equality and shared decision making
- Autonomy, rather than micromanagement
- A learning and feedback culture
- Respectful disagreement, not forced consensus
Leaders play the biggest role in setting this tone, whether they realise it or not.
YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS
Let's talk
Share some details about your organisation, any challenges you’re facing, and how you’d like support. One of our friendly team members will be in touch to book a free chat and explore the best fit for your needs.