Psychological safety is a critical factor in the workplace and assessing the level of psychological safety within your practice has a very high return on investment for leaders and managers.

One of the largest and arguably most productive companies in the world changed its management practices to cultivate and strengthen the level of psychological safety within its team structure. 

In 2012, Google launched ‘Project Aristotle’, a two-year internal study designed to uncover what factors separated average performing teams from high performers. 

It followed 180 different teams and examined numerous qualitative and quantitative measures such as team composition, personality traits and sales performance data to uncover the factors that drove team effectiveness. 

The study found that the highest predictor of team effectiveness was the level of psychological safety within the group. 

The stronger the level of psychological safety, the higher the level of performance the team exhibited as a whole.

Since then, numerous other studies have confirmed the strong link between psychological safety and team effectiveness. 

For example, a 2017 systematic review demonstrated that higher levels of psychological safety within a team are associated with greater staff engagement, stronger communication practices and higher overall performance (Newman et al 2017) and a Gallup study from the same year (Gallup 2017) showed that strong psychological safety was highly correlated to better engagement and lower staff attrition rates. 

Therefore, to successfully build and lead a high-performing team, we as leaders need to intentionally cultivate an environment of psychological safety.

What is psychological safety?

In a psychologically safe environment or work culture, team members feel safe taking interpersonal risks such as expressing their ideas, asking questions or making mistakes, without the fear of negative consequences. 

If your team feels comfortable being themselves at work and can contribute their opinions and thoughts freely, your practice has an environment of high psychological safety and likely has a high-performing team. 

Workplaces with an environment of low psychological safety will have team members who feel like they must walk on eggshells around certain people or change themselves to ‘fit in’. 

This results in lower team engagement and work satisfaction, higher turnover rates and a siloing effect as each individual team member is focused on self-preservation rather than team or overall practice success.

Assessing psychological safety in your practice 

To assess the level of psychological safety within your practice, you can use both qualitative and quantitative methods. 

Gregory Goh.

From a qualitative perspective, start by observing interactions in team meetings over a period of time. 

Look at how your team members communicate and engage with each other as well as participate in group discussions. 

Do they openly ask questions and appear to be comfortable about seeking feedback and advice or are they closed and guarded?

Are team discussions lively and action- oriented or does it feel like you’re pulling teeth to get just one forced response? 

Are team lunches full of healthy communication and respectful dialogue or does everyone retreat to their consult room as soon as possible? 

If you have other leaders within your practice, either senior clinicians or a practice manager, they can provide an added layer of observational data that can help you subjectively assess the current level of psychological safety. 

From a quantitative perspective, you can utilise validated tools such as the Psychologically Safe Team Assessment or generalised culture surveys with your team, which will give them the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback. 

Once you understand the level of psychological safety within your practice, you can begin to work towards building a stronger team environment.

What Google did

To foster stronger psychological safety across its business, Google implemented the following three changes within its management practices and you can too.

A shift from manager to mentor

Cultivating an environment of psychological safety starts with the leaders. 

Google provided its managers with training and resources to help improve communication skills and empathy with their teams.

These tools emphasised the importance of open communication, honest feedback and encouraging equal participation within the team. 

The underlying principle was to teach their leaders the concept of situational humility, which is focused on shifting towards a curiosity and personal growth mindset in developing their team members.

One way to do this is to schedule regular one-on-one conversations with team members, focusing on holistic growth rather than just performance.

A focus on new team norms

Google’s study highlighted key behaviours—such as trust, openness, empathy and conversational turn taking—that were crucial for fostering psychological safety. 

These behaviours were emphasised and rewarded within teams, which helped leaders to embed them into the team culture. 

Over time, the new cultural norms became self-reinforcing, with team members holding each other accountable for upholding these behaviours. 

The result was a more collaborative and inclusive team environment, where thoughts and ideas were shared freely and openly without the fear of rejection.

At your next team meeting, discuss and brainstorm how your practice will celebrate wins, give feedback and handle conflict, then agree on some collective behaviours that you will all uphold together.

A shift from individual performance to team dynamics

One of the biggest changes Google made was to pivot its focus from individual performance to overall team effectiveness within the company. 

A strong emphasis was placed on how each team member’s tasks were connected to the broader mission of the business unit and team members were coached to set clear and direct goals based on their role and contribution to the team’s objectives. 

This helped to strengthen the connection between an individual’s tasks and the team’s overall success. 

The shift towards focusing on team dynamics over individual brilliance helped teams to strengthen their dependence on one another and increased their freedom to take risks, which led to greater innovation and creativity.

It’s important to celebrate team milestones, not just individual achievements. 

At each mentoring session and team meeting, reiterate how your separate roles and responsibilities tie into the bigger picture of your practice.

Google’s research and resulting management changes show that cultivating an environment of psychological safety is paramount in developing and leading a high-performing team. 

Practices with such an environment have lower staff attrition and higher team satisfaction and motivation, all of which result in better patient care, greater team effectiveness and higher profitability for the practice. 

Understanding and cultivating psychological safety within your team is one of the most impactful levers you have to futureproof your practice and continue to grow as a high-performing leader.

Click here to learn more about Project Aristotle.

>> Greg Goh APAM is an experienced physiotherapist, private practice owner and business coach. Through his work at Thrive Foundation, he supports allied health business owners to strengthen their leadership, systems and strategy, drawing on his Master of Business Administration expertise and more than 13 years in clinical practice and management.

Quick Links: 

• References 

COURSE OF INTEREST: Mental health in the workplace