How to Create Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about psychological safety in the workplace.Perhaps, some of you have heard the term and do not know what it means. For employees to feel psychologically safe at work, they need a sense of control. They will be more productive and committed to their jobs. To create a psychologically safe workplace, managers should give employees the chance to make decisions and help them manage their workloads.

Defining Psychological Safety at Work

Cognitive psychologist Ellen Langer defines psychological safety as “a set of conditions about which people feel as though they can speak freely and as such worries dissolve” as well as “an environment that sustains those conditions.” In simpler terms, psychological safety prevents negative emotions from interfering with the productivity of the team.

Psychological safety is the degree to which people believe that they will be supported and encouraged to speak up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. It’s a shared belief held by members of a team that others on the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish them for speaking up. It gives team members enough confidence to express ideas without fear of losing face or being ridiculed by co-workers and managers.