Building a team where people speak up

Skills you'll practise

• Explain team psychological safety and distinguish it from cohesiveness, permissiveness and low standards
• Recognize signs that people on a team don't feel safe to speak up
• Use framing, specific invitations and meeting formats that draw in quieter voices
• Respond to a raised concern or admitted mistake by thanking, asking, acting and closing the loop
• Separate learning from honest mistakes from accountability for deliberate or reckless rule-breaking
• Route concerns about harassment, safety or wrongdoing to the formal process

Course outline

1. 1.Building a team where people speak upVideo · 3 min
2. 2.What psychological safety is, and isn'tLesson · 16 min
3. 3.What leaders do: frame, invite, respondLesson · 17 min
4. 4.Practice, limits and common mistakesLesson · 17 min
5. 5.Building a team where people speak up: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 17 questions
6. 6.Building a team where people speak up: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
7. 7.Final exam11 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383
• General people-leadership practice for team leads and managers