A topic that has regularly come up in the coaching sessions I have conducted in recent months is psychological safety. Psychological safety is not a “soft” topic, but an important foundation for collaboration, adaptability, and effective teams. When employees feel free to express their opinions, share mistakes, or ask for help, they learn faster, communicate more openly, and perform better.
However, it is not yet a given within many teams. Behind behaviour often lie thoughts such as:
“What if I set my own limits and become seen as difficult?”
“What if I ask for help and am therefore perceived as weak?”
“What if my feedback is wrong or used against me?”
Here I would like to share some things that can contribute to increasing psychological safety:
- Be like Manager consistent and available, This creates stability and trust within the team.
- Work together with the team clear agreements around collaboration (such as check-ins, feedback moments, clear role and task distribution …), it creates clarity and trust
- Dare to lead yourself feedback ask questions, admit mistakes and communicate transparently.
- Develop an feedback culture. Not just top-down, but also between colleagues. Giving and receiving feedback in a constructive way ensures that people feel heard and seen.
- Normalise vulnerability. When there is room to say “I don’t know right now” or “I should have handled this differently”, the culture of learning grows.
- Really listen. Safety often lies in small things: genuinely listening, not interrupting, asking questions out of curiosity and without judgment.
Psychological safety does not come naturally; it requires conscious choices, consistent behaviour, and openness, something we can all contribute to. Feel free to add your own insights and experiences or take part in the discussion. Contact with us.
#Psychological# safetyTeam development #Leadership #Coaching #Feedback culture
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Do you want to work on trust and psychological safety in your team? With team coaching we make sensitive topics discussable and a team assessment maps out where your team stands today.