How safe do the people on your team feel? I don’t mean physical safety – I mean do they feel safe to talk freely and openly? Can they admit mistakes, or say they don’t understand something, without fear of judgement, ridicule or consequences?

Or, are they afraid to speak up? Are they in fear of being laughed at, or risking their position if they admit failure? Does politics rule the team, and are people wasting time looking over their shoulder, trying to protect themselves from an unwanted consequence of being vulnerable to a teammate?

What we are talking about here is a concept called ‘psychological safety’. Professor Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School describes psychological safety as “a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up. It describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves, Psychological safety isn’t about being nice. It’s about giving candid feedback, openly admitting mistakes, and learning from each other”.

A lack of this safety can mean a team is slow to make decisions, less likely to share different views and be creative, and is prone to stress and low morale. It’s not a very pleasant place to be.

Take a minute to think about the climate in your team. If you had a scale with complete psychological safety at one end, and none at all at the other, where would you sit?

If you think that you could improve the level of psychological safety in your team, here are three things you can do:

Number one – leaders go first

If you are the team leader, you have to model this behaviour and lead the way. Be prepared to be vulnerable, admit you don’t know everything, and stamp out any sign of ridicule or judgement of others.

Number two – hold a discussion session with the whole team

Talk openly about the topic, get people’s opinions and agree on how you will all change the way you are with each other to create this ethos in your team.

Number three – practice this every single day.

Make it part of your team’s rhythm and rituals, so that it is front of mind and alive in your team. Recognise and appreciate those that live it, and let people know it is not acceptable to act in a psychologically unsafe way.