Work from Anywhere: The HBR Guides Collection (5 Books)

CHAPTER 21

What Psychological Safety Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace

by Amy C. Edmondson and Mark Mortensen

Psychological safety—the belief that one can speak up without risk of punishment or humiliation—has been well established as a critical driver of high-quality decision making, healthy group dynamics and interpersonal relationships, greater innovation, and more effective execution in organizations. Simple as psychological safety may be to understand, Amy’s work has shown how hard it is to establish and maintain this kind of safety even in the most straightforward, factual, and critical contexts. For example, these contexts may include ensuring that operating room staff speak up to avoid a wrong-side surgery or that a CEO is corrected before ...