Psychological Safety describes how team members perceive the consequences of taking risks between them. It therefore reflects how easily people dare to express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally, in front of others, without fear of negative consequences. You’ve probably heard “I’m not saying anything, because it might be used against me later”…?

It was first explored in the context of organizational development in the 1960s, but in fact Psychological Safety has experienced a renaissance from the 1990s. Recently, it has been identified as the main factor in the effectiveness of teams at Google – project Aristotle.

The Psychological Safety Scale “measures” how we perceive the consequences of taking risks in a team. The higher the Psychological Safety, the more comfortable the team members are to fully be themselves. They share their thoughts, including asking questions, coming up with new ideas, asking for feedback, or pointing out an error without risking being judged. Team members have positive intentions towards each other and are able to engage in conflict or constructive confrontation.

Team Psychological Safety therefore describes an environment in which team members can be comfortable being themselves. 

There are three levels of Psychological Safety:
Inside myself: in general, how much I dare to be fully open and authentic with others is my inner strength.
Between myself and others: While I know my inner strength, with some people I will feel comfortable taking risks and with others less.
In the collective, in a group, within a team: This is a kind of mathematical mean of the psychological safety of all relationships. Using graph theory and tools, we can visualize interesting characteristics in the dynamics of a group, such as for example the existence of clans or silos, the capacity for self-management or the level of competition between members.

What does a high level of Psychological Safety look like in an organiation?
Well, many studies have shown that the higher the Psychological Safety level, the more the team shares knowledge and learns, dares to speak up and raise problems, works in collective intelligence, is creative and innovative, is committed to common objectives… in a word, is efficient! (It’s no secret why it’s the number 1 performance factor at Google)

Some researchers have even seen that it is essential to the “unfreezing” of the organization  before embarking on its transformation!

So, how can we develop Psychological Safety in an organization? That is the million-dollar question!

It’s mostly about culture. We have noticed that the leadership style in the company is paramount to creating the right conditions. Relationships are not just transactional, they are human and genuine, which means emotional and also demanding. Opportunities are given for exchange with top management and this is very useful. And daring to talk about yourself (as a person) and what you experience inside yourself is also key.

Development