Creating Psychologically Safe teams

Why Psychological Safety matters and how we build it together

Based on Be Well Co’s “Psychological Safety for leaders” workshop

Psychological safety has become one of the most important foundations of healthy, high-performing teams. It’s more than a buzzword – it’s the sense of trust that allows people to show up authentically, speak openly, learn from mistakes and innovate without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

In this blog, we break down the core principles from our psychological safety workshop into key insights your people can revisit anytime.

What is Psychological Safety?

At its heart, psychological safety is a person’s belief that they can express themselves, ask questions, share ideas, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences. When teams have this shared belief, they feel:

• Empowered to take meaningful risks
• Safe to challenge assumptions
• Confidently contributing ideas
• Supported when they fail, learn, or grow

Psychological safety is not about being nice. As Amy Edmondson famously notes, it’s about honesty, accountability, and continuous learning — giving candid feedback and creating space for diverse thinking, rather than avoiding discomfort.

Why Psychological Safety matters

Research shows that psychological safety is essential for both wellbeing and performance. When teams feel safe:

• Performance rises
• Higher engagement and job satisfaction
• Faster learning and better information sharing
• Greater willingness to take risks and innovate
• More openness, flexibility and resilience
• Wellbeing improves
• Reduced stress and burnout
• More help-seeking and feedback-sharing
• Increased trust and connection
• Fewer harmful workplace experiences

High-trust workplaces see remarkable benefits: less stress, more energy, higher productivity, fewer sick days, and dramatically stronger team engagement.

What Psychological Safety looks like in practice

Teams with strong psychological safety often demonstrate:

• Conversational equality – everyone has a voice
• Respectful disagreement – difference of opinion is encouraged, not punished
• Shared decision-making – people feel involved and influential
• Autonomy – not being micromanaged
• A learning culture – feedback is normal and valued
• Belonging – people feel accepted as their authentic selves

These factors don’t appear by accident – they require intentional actions across the team.

The four stages of Psychological Safety

Psychological safety grows through four progressive stages (LeaderFactor, 2023):

1. Inclusion Safety
“Can I be myself here?”
People feel accepted for who they are.

2. Learner Safety
“Is it okay to ask questions and grow?”
Mistakes are treated as opportunities.

3. Contributor Safety
“Can I make a meaningful difference?”
Team members are empowered to add value.

4. Challenger Safety
“Is it safe to speak up or challenge the status quo?”
Candour fuels improvement and innovation.

A psychologically safe team intentionally nurtures all four.

How Psychological Safety links to Psychosocial Risks

Psychological safety also plays a critical role in reducing psychosocial risks and hazards in the workplace. When people feel unable to speak up, raise concerns, or ask for help, risks such as stress, role conflict, bullying, and poor communication can escalate. Creating a psychologically safe environment helps organisations identify issues early, address harmful behaviours, and protect employee wellbeing. In this way, psychological safety isn’t just a cultural “nice to have” — it’s a core part of managing psychosocial hazards and meeting legal obligations around mentally healthy work.

How we amplify Psychological Safety (three practical focus areas)

1. Create more of what good looks like

Identify behaviours that support safety and consciously model them — things like active listening, checking assumptions, inviting input, and acknowledging effort.

Ask your team:

• What are we doing well already?
• Where is there room to improve?
• Awareness is the starting point.

2. Build skills for speaking up and difficult conversations

Speaking up is essential — and a skill we can all strengthen.

Before the conversation:

• Choose a private and calm environment
• Note the specific behaviours (not judgments)
• Prepare potential constructive pathways forward
• During the conversation
• Listen actively
• Ask open questions
• Stay curious, not judgmental
• Keep body language open and grounded
• After the conversation
• Follow up
• Reinforce support
• Check in if more discussion is needed

Healthy conflict is a sign of psychological safety — not a threat to it.

3. Learn Through Real Scenarios

Be Well Co’s Psychological Safety for leaders workshop includes several real-world situations highlighting challenges around:

• Uneven idea-sharing in meetings
• Responding to overwhelmed teammates
• Mistakes that people are afraid to admit
• Raising concerns about a manager’s behaviour
• Cultural norms (e.g., “staying late”) that may need rethinking
• Discussing scenarios like these helps teams align on expectations and grow trust together.

The bottom line: Psychological Safety is a team effort

It’s not the sole responsibility of leaders or HR. Every teammate helps shape the environment – through the questions they ask, the way they respond, the space they create for others, and the curiosity they bring.

When we build trust, we build stronger teams. When we build stronger teams, performance and wellbeing rise together.

If you’re ready to deepen your team’s culture or explore more advanced tools, we have workshops to help equip teams and leaders with the research and practical tools to embed these practices into their workplace. Check them out below or get in touch to learn more.

Available Workshops

• Psychological Safety for teams 
• Psychological Safety for leaders
• Introduction to Psychosocial risks and hazards for leaders