Author: Nedžad Junuzović
Imagine rating your team on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for the following statements:
- It’s easy to express opinions in my team, even if they differ from the majority.
- Team members openly discuss problems and disagreements.
- The team often has lively professional debates without fear of defensive reactions.
- Problems and tough questions are addressed as soon as they are noticed.
- If someone makes a mistake, they are encouraged to continue, and mistakes are seen as learning opportunities.
- Ideas and efforts to improve the team are supported and heard.
- Team members feel free to try new things without fear of being criticized for unexpected results.
- There is no politicking or claiming credit for others’ work.
If most of your answers are a 4 or 5, you are part of a team with strong psychological safety. But what does this term really mean, and why is it important?
Psychological safety is the belief that your workplace is a safe space where you can share ideas, admit mistakes, ask for help, or point out problems without fear of ridicule, rejection, or punishment. This feeling of safety is built on mutual trust, which is the foundation of successful teamwork.
A Real-World Example
Here’s a story of how psychological safety was established in a complex team environment. A newly formed development team inherited a project burdened with significant technical debt. Key stakeholders, frustrated with the previous team, demanded quick results. The new team was diverse—11 members from 4 companies and 2 countries—most of whom had never worked together before. In such a stressful environment, the team lead recognized the need to build trust and psychological safety.
Building the Foundations
The team lead, during the first three weeks of their work, in addition to gathering basic information, focused on laying the groundwork for building mutual trust and respect within the team. Below are the key steps for establishing the foundation on which healthy interpersonal relationships in the team will develop.
Personal Contact: The team lead prioritized personal relationships, traveling to work on-site with remote team members for at least one iteration. This showed genuine commitment and provided invaluable insights beyond virtual communication.
Learning from Mistakes: The team lead emphasized that mistakes are expected in complex projects. The focus shifted from assigning blame to improving processes over time.
Retrospective Rules: Team retrospectives were held privately, without managers or evaluators. This also applied to collaboration tools (Slack, Jira), ensuring a safe space for open dialogue and professional discussions.
Conflict Resolution: A structured conflict resolution process was established. Members would first resolve conflicts directly. If unresolved, they could ask a colleague to mediate. As a last resort, unresolved issues would be raised to the team before escalating to management.
Defining Roles and Responsibilities: A “Way of Working” (WoW) document outlined the software development lifecycle (SDLC), meeting structures, and team roles. The development team “owned” the SDLC process, while a new role—Architecture Owner—was introduced for system design responsibility. This living document was continuously updated as the team improved.
Zero Tolerance for Politics: The team adopted a strict no-politics and no-gossip policy to promote respect and transparency. Politics in this context means saying what is pleasant to hear, rather than what is necessary and essential, under the illusion of protecting one’s own interests.
Building Trust and Respect: Trust was defined as the belief that no one would harm others, and respect meant supporting team decisions, even when in disagreement, and helping colleagues achieve their goals.
Encouraging Empathy: The team lead shared a simple yet powerful idea: “I am happy when my colleague is happy, and I will do everything I can to contribute to their happiness.” This was reflected in practical actions, like timely task updates in Jira and delivering work on time to help others succeed.
Team Dynamics
A fresh start and good communication in the beginning brought enthusiasm and began to restore confidence and mutual trust within the team. On these healthy foundations, a positive dynamic was established, as shown in the image below.
A positive start and open communication created a healthy dynamic where greater trust reduced fear, enabling open discussions and a stronger focus on learning. The result? Fewer software issues and less uncertainty about outcomes, such as contract renewals.
While invisible at first glance, this structure proved essential for fostering healthy communication—clearly visible in responses to the questions posed at the start of this post.
Results
The team’s commitment to building a safe and respectful environment paid off. Members became more open and collaborative, creating a dynamic where challenges strengthened team cohesion rather than breaking it. As one colleague simply put it: “There’s a chemistry between us.”
By fostering psychological safety, the team lead laid the foundation for mutual trust and high productivity, enabling the team to tackle technical debt and deliver results despite significant challenges.
How Can You Build Psychological Safety?
Start with a Strong Foundation: Build systems that allow people to develop trust, satisfaction, and productivity. Encourage open communication where team members can share their thoughts without fear.
Clarify the Approach to Mistakes: Not all mistakes are the same, nor do they require the same approach. In repetitive, simpler tasks, a mistake is considered a deviation from the procedure, while an error in the final outcome is undesirable. In more complex tasks, mistakes in the final outcome should be treated as opportunities for learning and improvement. For example, an error when connecting a patient to dialysis is in no way comparable to a bug in an application within a testing environment.
Model Trust and Empathy: Lead by example. Align your words, actions, and thoughts with integrity. Only with personal integrity can you inspire the same in your team.
Psychological safety isn’t built overnight, but with consistent effort, you can create an environment where everyone brings their best to work.