Engagement | HR Blog

5 strategies to build Psychological Safety at work in 2026

5 minutes | Updated 14 January 2026

Becky Griffin - Content Marketing Manager

In this guide you'll find science-backed strategies on how to build psychological safety, the benefits of successfully implementing it, and key takeaways for managers to looking to create psychological safety within your teams.

Creating psychological safety requires intentional practices and consistent leadership commitment. We know you're working with real constraints - skeptical management, tight budgets, limited time - so these strategies are designed to be practical and doable in the real world.

1. Lead with humility

Show your team it’s OK to get it wrong occasionally. Leaders who admit they don't have all the answers create permission for others to do the same. Employees tackle problems more creatively when they're not waiting for directives, teams develop better communication through collaborative problem-solving, and innovation increases when people feel safe proposing unconventional ideas

Key takeaway for managers: Be genuine. Begin meetings with "I'm not sure about the best approach here - what are your thoughts?" Start small, asking your team open-ended questions you genuinely don't know the answer to. Learning together builds trust.

2. Establish strong communication channels

Psychological safety at work thrives when communication flows freely in all directions. We've all met managers who say "my door is always open"- yet employees still don't speak up – because they don’t fully believe it. You need intentional pathways, not just good intentions – and you need to demonstrate that employee voices matter, and their feedback is acted upon.

Key takeaway for managers: After each meeting, send a "You spoke, we acted" follow-up email or message, highlighting the specific actions you're taking to address feedback. Even small actions prove speaking up creates change.

3. Measure and monitor psychological safety

You can't improve what you don't measure. And concrete data allows you to track progress and demonstrate value. Using validated measures like Amy Edmondson's Team Psychological Safety survey, or the Thomas Connection Measure can help you to benchmark and understand progress over time.

Behavioral profiling can also enhance psychological safety by helping teams understand diverse communication styles and working preferences. When team members recognize that colleagues process information differently or need varying levels of detail, they're less likely to misinterpret behaviors as dismissive or difficult. This understanding creates empathy and reduces the anxiety that comes from misreading social cues, making it safer for everyone to contribute.

Key takeaway for managers: Don’t have access to these tools? Assess psychological safety at work with regular check ins by asking:

- "Do you feel comfortable sharing contrary opinions in meetings?"

- "Can you admit mistakes without fear?"

- "Do you feel your ideas are valued?"

4. Prioritize face-to-face interaction

While written communication has its place, psychological safety flourishes through direct human connection. Text-based communication can obscure tone and intent, create barriers to trust-building, and limit spontaneous exchanges that spark creativity.

Key takeaway for managers: Think about the person you’re talking to – what are their preferences for communication, how can you accommodate them? And get to know them beyond their work. Start each week with a 15-minute "coffee chat" (virtual or in-person) where work talk is off-limits. This builds interpersonal trust that makes work vulnerability feel safer.

5. Normalize productive failure

This is often the hardest cultural shift, especially in organizations with perfectionist tendencies. Yet teams with high psychological safety at work view failures as learning opportunities rather than career-limiting events.

Leaders can help to build on this mindset by sharing their own mistakes, conducting blame-free project post-mortems, celebrating experiments that generated insights, and distinguishing between intelligent failures and preventable failures.

Key takeaway for managers: Share a personal "failure of the month" in team meetings - what you learned and how you'll approach it differently. When leaders normalize failure as growth, team members feel safer taking their own calculated risks.

How Thomas Assess can help you scale psychological safety

Clarify your roles and build confidence

Clear expectations help individuals feel secure in their roles and reduce fear of failure. Thomas Assess allows you to pinpoint the key attributes that have been scientifically proven to lead to success in a role, which you can use to find your ideal candidate.

When employees understand exactly what's expected and how their natural behavioral traits align with role requirements, they can contribute with greater confidence.

Optimise natural strengths

People feel safer when they know their natural strengths are recognized and valued. Thomas Assess identifies individual working styles and capabilities through our science-backed assessments. These insights help managers frame conversations around what people do well, and where potential can be developed. Open conversations help build a natural basis for great manager-employee relationships.

How Thomas Connect supports psychological safety in teams

Shared understanding builds trust

By sharing your Thomas Profile with your team, you’re sharing your preferences for communication, decision-making, and collaboration. Having this information about your colleagues increases everyone’s ability to understand behaviors, work to strengths and create a team feeling of psychological safety and trust.

Connection insights prompt open dialogue

The Connection Measure surfaces trust, belonging, and appreciation - key factors in a psychologically safe culture. By making these dimensions visible and measurable, teams can have productive conversations about improving relationships and building stronger psychological safety together.

Employee engagement is down to 21%, according to a recent study by Gallup (2025), and it could be affecting your team's ability to thrive. You can build connection, psychological safety and trust by using our science-backed insights and award-winning AI connection tools. Chat to us today for help making your team feel more connected.