Beyond the buzzword: making psychological safety a daily practice

Psychological safety at work gets talked about a lot in leadership circles. It's often described as the secret ingredient behind the highest-performing teams, and for good reason, when people feel safe to speak up, ask questions and admit mistakes, collaboration improves and problems get solved faster. But despite all the conversation, it can still feel difficult to know what psychological safety actually looks like day to day.

In reality, building psychological safety happens through quiet, consistent actions. It shows up in how meetings are run, how feedback is given, and how decisions are communicated. And crucially, it’s about recognising the discomfort that comes with growth, challenge or change and making sure it doesn’t turn into fear.

For leaders trying to embed psychological safety into how their team works, here are five practical ways to make it real.

1. Put understanding at the heart of how you lead
Uncertainty breeds anxiety. When people don’t understand what’s expected of them, how decisions are made, or what success looks like, they start to play it safe, which is the opposite of psychological safety. Being intentional about understanding in your team is a fundamental leadership responsibility. Whether it’s setting up a new project, onboarding someone new or changing direction, always start by making expectations, roles and rhythms clear.

2. Invite honest reflection
If your team only talks when it’s time to deliver or report back, there’s no room to surface tension or talk about what’s not working. Build in regular opportunities for reflection as a genuine opportunity to learn, adapt and make things better together. In Working With Me™ sessions, we hear time and again that people don’t realise how much they’re holding back until they’re explicitly invited to share what’s hard. Make that invitation part of your team’s rhythm.

3. Show your fallibility
Always be open about what you don’t know. Leaders who pretend to have all the answers don’t create safety, they create silence. If you want people to be honest about mistakes or uncertainty, you need to go first. That doesn’t mean constantly self-flagellating, but it does mean showing that you’re open to being wrong, that you’re still learning, and that feedback goes both ways.

4. Encourage curiosity
A psychologically safe team is one where questions are welcomed as part of how the team learns. Make a point of noticing and appreciating when someone asks a thoughtful question or raises a concern. Over time, this sets a norm that curiosity and challenge are part of how you work.

5. Build structures that support safety
It’s easy to assume that team psychological safety will emerge naturally if people are kind and meetings are friendly. Think of safety as a system outcome. That means looking at your team’s structures, rhythms and agreements. How are decisions made? Who speaks most in meetings? When are expectations shared, and how? If you want a psychologically safe culture, start by designing for it.

Here’s what matters most: Psychological safety isn’t a side project or a nice-to-have. It underpins how teams communicate, collaborate and grow. With the right support, it becomes a practical, lasting part of how your team works, embedded in rhythms, routines and real decisions.

Want to do this properly with your team? Enquire about booking the Working With Me™ approach for your team or arrange a discovery call.

FAQs on psychological safety

• What does psychological safety actually look like in practice?

  It looks like team members feeling confident to speak up without second guessing themselves.

  It shows in the way feedback is handled, how decisions are communicated, and how openly people raise concerns. If your team can disagree respectfully, ask for help, and share what's not working, you're creating the right conditions.

• Can psychological safety be measured or assessed?

  You won’t always capture it in a spreadsheet, but you can see it in behaviour. Are people asking questions? Raising issues early? Owning mistakes? You can also use team reviews, external facilitation or structured reflection (like the Working With Me™ process) to explore what’s supporting or blocking safety in your team.

• What’s the difference between psychological safety and just being nice?

  Being nice might keep things polite, but it doesn’t guarantee honesty. Psychological safety relies on clarity, consistency and trust, not just friendliness. It means knowing that you can be direct, raise concerns and still be respected. That kind of culture needs structure, not just goodwill.