Psychological safety, a term popularised by Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School, is the shared belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks in a team: to ask a question, admit a mistake or challenge a decision without being embarrassed or punished.
It is not about comfort, or about everyone being nice. It is about being able to think clearly and speak honestly under pressure. When it is low, people self-censor and problems surface late. When it is high, concerns are raised early, pressure is named rather than carried alone, and teams recover from setbacks faster. It is built through everyday behaviour, not through people having to share personal feelings.
01
How safe is it to speak up?
02
What the manager can do
| Behaviour | In practice |
|---|---|
| Frame the work as uncertain | “We haven’t done this before, so I’m relying on you to flag what I’m missing.” |
| Admit your own mistakes | Say when you got something wrong, and what you learned. |
| Ask, then listen | End meetings with “What are we not talking about?” and wait. |
| Respond well to bad news | Thank people for raising problems, even unwelcome ones. |
| Name the pressure | Talk openly about workload, so no one has to carry it silently. |
Exercise
For managers
The lowest-scoring statement, and what might be behind it:
One behaviour I will practise for the next month: