How to Build Psychological Safety Subtly and Effectively
What tangible steps can you take to build psychological safety but without drawing attention to it due to that "woo woo" stigma?
We want people to speak up, ask for help, and even fail, without fear of humiliation or retaliation - whether we want to label it as “psychological safety” or not. As leaders, there are lots of small things we can do every day to help create that type of culture in ways that feel authentic without leaning into the “touchy-feely” territory some may hesitate to embrace.
Here are some practical, impactful approaches to help your team feel safe to contribute more and grow.
1. Create Space for Questions and Ideas
Too often, meetings end with a quick “Any questions?” and silence follows—not because people don’t have questions, but because the environment hasn’t been designed to encourage inquiry. Shift the tone by framing questions and creating space that invites curiosity and dialogue.
What to do instead: Set the expectations that your team’s input is not only welcome but vital.
Try rephrasing your approach:
- Instead of “Any questions?”, ask “What questions do you have?”
- Ask people to find a partner and talk about what questions are popping up for them, and then discuss these questions as an entire group.
- Hold a meeting just for a pre-mortem on an idea - click here for instructions and templates.
These kinds of prompts give your team permission to explore, offering space to bring up concerns or challenge thinking in a constructive way.
2. Design Experiments to Test New Ideas
Encourage your team to take more risks by running small, low-stakes experiments. This shifts the focus from fear of failure to a mindset of curiosity and learning. Create a culture where experimentation is valued by treating initiatives like scientific hypotheses.
How to try this: Pick a new approach, framework, or project idea, and turn it into an experiment.
Ask your team to define:
- A hypothesis (“We think updating this process will save us 10 hours a month”)
- A plan to test it, with timelines and specific actions
- A follow-up meeting to discuss what was learned (not just what succeeded or failed)
By formalizing experiments, you signal that risk-taking is expected and that learning—rather than immediate success—is the real goal.
3. Create a Failure Wall
Creating a space to celebrate failure can actually accelerate learning and foster openness. When people see failure as an inevitable and valuable part of progress, they are more likely to take risks and innovate.
How it works: Dedicate a section of your workspace (physical or virtual) to a “Failure Wall” where team members can openly share something that didn’t work and what they learned from it. As the leader, add your failure to the wall first to model. Highlight the creativity, personal bravery, and learning that emerged from each failure. Click here for inspiration!
This simple shift in perspective reframes failure as a necessary step toward growth, reducing the fear of speaking up or trying new things.
4. Ask "Juicier" Questions in Meetings
Often, leaders fall back on standard feedback requests like, “Do you have any thoughts?” But to truly build psychological safety, ask deeper, more provocative questions that push your team to think critically about the project or idea.
Example questions to try:
- Who is one stakeholder that might disagree with this idea and why?
- If this plan were going to fall apart, what would be the earliest warning signs?
- What's something about this idea that's exciting but also makes you nervous?
- What is one thing you see me doing that is getting in my own way as your leader?
These kinds of questions open up space for dialogue, letting your team feel safe expressing doubt or concern without feeling like they’re being negative.
5. Speak Less, Ask More
Leaders often feel the need to fill the space in meetings or offer solutions to every problem. But one of the most effective ways to build psychological safety is to talk less and listen more. Let your team’s voices take center stage, and make room for their ideas to shape the conversation.
What to do: Commit to speaking only after everyone has shared their thoughts in the next meeting. Ask reflective questions like, “How would you approach this problem if you had no limits?” or “What do you think we’re overlooking?”
Experiments to Try
Here are a few specific experiments you can implement to see immediate shifts in your team’s psychological safety. These small actions can yield significant results:
- Silent Idea Generation: In your next meeting, try a “silent start.” Ask team members to write down ideas or concerns privately and then share with a partner before discussing them as a whole group. This allows quieter voices to contribute without the pressure of speaking up immediately. You can even collect ideas on the wall with sticky notes to ensure all voices are captured.
- Failure Friday: Each Friday, dedicate 15 minutes to a “failure reflection” where team members share one thing that didn’t work that week and what they learned from it. This reframes failure as a learning tool and normalizes risk-taking.
- One Question Follow-Up: After your next project review, ask just one powerful question: “What’s one thing we’d do differently if we started this project again tomorrow?” This helps the team reflect on learning without focusing on blame.
Reflection Questions
To help you assess and refine how you’re building psychological safety, consider reflecting on the following questions:
- Where are we unintentionally creating barriers for team members to speak up or experiment?
- How often are we encouraging curiosity versus seeking quick answers?
- What small changes can I make to signal that learning from failure is valued?
- Which team members do I need to create more space for in discussions?
Building psychological safety isn’t about grand gestures or radical overhauls—it’s about consistently creating the conditions where your team feels safe, valued, and empowered to take risks. With these strategies, you can start fostering that environment today.