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Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Psychological safety isn’t optional – it’s the foundation of resilient and innovative teams.
The tech landscape has changed in the last few years, and job security has diminished. The consequences of this on team dynamics and developer mental health are profound.
In environments where job insecurity is common, there’s a natural tendency for developers to take fewer risks, avoid challenging conversations, and, in some cases, overwork – all symptoms that hinder innovation and lead to burnout.
To remedy this, engineering leaders need to create an environment where those tendencies are reversed, building psychological safety into teams.
Leading with empathy and vulnerability
It is always important to remember that the fundamental route of all leadership is human connection. Leaders need to communicate openly, show understanding of people’s feelings, empathize, be compassionate, and show vulnerability, especially in a time when people’s jobs feel unsafe. In doing so, you help people feel understood, respected, and at ease.
Leaders need to engage in a lot of active listening, diving deep into topics people bring up. For instance, if a company had announced layoffs the day before, leaders might want to hear out people’s concerns. Phrases like “Tell me more about what concerns you about the layoff of company X” or “I understand where you’re coming from – sometimes I worry too,” show vulnerability and transparency.
Building a sense of inclusion safety is the first stage of creating psychological safety in teams, and establishing trust through presenting yourself as a human rather than “the boss” is the only way you’re going to get there.
Bring a positive perspective
Acknowledging a tough market builds transparency, but bringing a positive outlook helps motivate people and soothe any fears. Statements like this might help: “Even though our competitor just had layoffs, we have a strategic advantage for X, Y, Z reasons.”
Positivity is the main element here. Leaders can expand their focus from layoffs to providing overall learning opportunities for team members, such as conferences. This incentivizes the second stage of psychological safety: learner safety.
Another way to achieve this is through asking for feedback, which shows a willingness to improve. It invites reports to raise concerns and feel like their voices are heard. Simple phrases like “Could you give me some feedback on the way I ran the last meeting? I’d like to improve on my communication skills,” help create a safe environment where engineers feel empowered to continuously learn.
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Empower people’s voices
People may be hesitant to speak up when layoffs and job insecurity are on their minds. In our current environment, anything perceived as a failure amplifies anxiety.
Leaders, therefore, play a key role in minimizing the spread of fear. By focusing on the effort and contributions of a team, instead of a “failure,” attention is shifted. Leaders can lean on sentiments like, “We tried to launch feature X. Unfortunately, the primary metrics gave us a negative signal, but it was a great learning experience for the team, and we now know how to move forward.”
Publicly recognizing curiosity and valid inputs is essential for fostering contributor safety, the third stage of psychological safety. This helps create a safe environment where the focus is on the process of contributing, making an effort, and learning as opposed to solely outcomes. For example, during a post-mortem, instead of focusing on who made a mistake, leaders can praise stakeholders who focus on finding ways to prevent the same incident from happening in the future.
Foster innovation
Innovation stems from new ideas. But when people hear about something destabilizing, like layoffs or reorgs, it can become hard to challenge the status quo; it’s perceived as a significant risk, and engineers are uncertain whether others will have opposing opinions.
This is where leaders need to incentivize people to innovate and propose new ideas and solutions. You can do this through small gestures like thanking people for disagreeing, especially if opposes an idea or process defined by somebody with higher authority. A simple “thank you for your feedback. I think this is a fair way of looking at things,” can set the example that disagreements are safe, as long as they are meant to improve the overall outcome.
Fostering innovation in a team directly correlates with challenger safety – the last stage of psychological safety. This is about being comfortable and safe in expressing new ideas, which generates innovation and typically allows businesses to improve their outcomes.
London • June 16 & 17, 2025
Speakers Gergely Orosz, Camille Fournier and Lara Hogan confirmed.
Final thoughts
Teams that can achieve all four stages of psychological safety attain a resilience that allows them to rebound faster when layoffs or significant shifts happen. As an engineering leader, it is your responsibility to guide your teams toward calmer waters in as stable a way as possible, ultimately reaching a place where trust and innovation are at all-time highs.
