Does Your Team Feel Safe Enough to Speak Up?

You’re in a meeting. Someone senior says something you know isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s a decision that you think won’t work, a comment that crosses a line, or a process that’s putting people at risk. You know you should say something.

But do you?

If the honest answer is ‘probably not’, you’re not alone. According to MHFA England (2026), 45% of UK employees don’t feel safe raising mistakes or risks at work. That’s nearly half your workforce sitting on concerns, limiting feedback, and subsequently letting problems grow. Psychological safety (the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up) is the single most important factor in building teams that actually work. Without it, mistakes can unreported, unacceptable behaviour goes unchallenged, and good people leave.

This post explores what psychological safety really means, why it matters more than ever in 2026, and includes a link to a quick quiz you can use to assess where your team stands right now.

What Is Psychological Safety?

The term was coined by Professor Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School. She defines psychological safety as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking” (Edmondson, 1999).

In plain English? It means people feel they can ask questions, admit mistakes, raise concerns, and disagree with someone more senior without fearing consequences.

Google’s famous Project Aristotle study (2015) found that psychological safety was the number one predictor of team effectiveness. Not talent, not resources, not strategy. Whether people felt safe enough to be honest with each other.

It’s worth being clear, psychological safety isn’t about everyone being comfortable all the time. It’s about creating the conditions where difficult conversations can happen. Where challenge is welcomed, not punished.

I’ve Seen Both Sides

Early in my career, as a very junior member of the team, I once respectfully challenged a diagnosis made by a senior colleague. I was nervous. But something didn’t sit right, and I felt I had to say it.

The response? Nothing but support and reflectivity. That senior clinician listened, considered my perspective, and we worked through it together. No defensiveness. No ‘who do you think you are?’, and I didn’t get transferred out!

That wasn’t a one-off. I’ve been fortunate to work in several environments where giving honest feedback to senior staff was not only accepted but encouraged. Those teams were better for it. People caught errors earlier. Morale was higher. Trust ws important.

But I’ve also been on the other side.

I’ve worked in teams where people didn’t feel able to challenge anything. Where concerns were met with silence, or worse, subtle consequences. I’ve seen the damage that does: mistakes get buried, resentment builds, and good people either shut down or walk away. I have also supported teams where we have actively facilitated change, and it’s a hard, slow process to pull back when fear of consequences are rooted.

Why This Matters More Than Ever in 2026

The UK job market is tough right now. People feel like they can’t afford to rock the boat because they can’t afford to lose their job.

The numbers back this up:

• 41% of UK employees have witnessed unfair treatment at work, but only 23% reported it (Safecall Employee Voice Report, 2025)
• 36% say the main reason they stay silent is fear of personal consequences (Safecall, 2025)
• 37% say speaking up at work ‘isn’t worth the personal risk’ (Culture Shift, 2026)
• 49% don’t feel comfortable expressing their needs to their employer (MHFA England, 2026)

When people feel like numbers, they act like numbers. They do the minimum, they don’t flag risks, and they certainly don’t challenge inappropriate behaviour. That’s not a people problem. It’s a culture problem.

What Happens When People Don’t Speak Up?

The consequences are real and measurable.

MHFA England’s 2026 research found that 15% of UK employees have made preventable errors because they didn’t feel safe raising concerns. In high-risk industries, that’s a safety issue. In any industry, it’s a performance issue.

But it goes beyond errors. When people can’t challenge:

• Inappropriate comments go unchecked, creating a culture where poor behaviour becomes normalised
• Bad decisions go unquestioned, because nobody wants to be the one who disagrees with the boss
• Talented people leave quietly, often without ever telling you the real reason
• Innovation dies, because new ideas require the confidence to say “what if we tried this instead?”

The businesses that fail aren’t always the ones that made one big mistake. Often, they’re the ones where dozens of people saw the problem and nobody said a word.

How Leaders Set the Tone

Psychological safety starts at the top. If you’re a manager, team leader, or senior decision-maker, your reaction to challenge determines everything.

Think about the last time someone on your team disagreed with you. Did you:

• Listen fully before responding?
• Thank them for raising it, even if you didn’t agree?
• Follow up to show their input was taken seriously?

Or did you get defensive, dismiss it quickly, or move on without acknowledging what they’d said?

People only need to see challenge go badly once to avoid speaking up again.

Try this: Next time someone raises a concern or pushes back on a decision, make your first response ‘Thank you for flagging that.’ It sounds small, but it sends a powerful signal.

Three Things You Can Do This Week

1. Ask one genuine question in your next team meeting: “Is there anything we’re not talking about that we should be?” Then wait. Give people space to answer.
2. Respond to the next piece of challenge or feedback with gratitude first.Even a simple “I appreciate you saying that” changes the dynamic.
3. Take our free Psychological Safety Quiz to get a snapshot of where your team stands right now. [Below]

Psychological safety shouldn’t be a luxury at work. It should be an expectation. It’s the foundation that everything else (performance, innovation, retention, wellbeing) is built on.

A free Psychological Safety Quiz for Your Team

Want to get a sense of where your team stands? Ask your team members to rate the following ten statements from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). You can do this anonymously using a simple online survey tool, or as a printed handout.

The Statements

1. I feel comfortable raising concerns with my manager without fear of negative consequences.
2. If I make a mistake, I can admit it openly without being blamed or punished.
3. People on this team are able to challenge each other’s ideas respectfully.
4. I feel confident speaking up in meetings, even when my view is different from the majority.
5. If I saw something inappropriate or unfair, I would feel safe reporting it.
6. My manager actively encourages feedback, including feedback about their own decisions.
7. When someone raises a concern, it is taken seriously and followed up.
8. I don’t worry that being honest will damage my career prospects here.
9. New or junior team members are encouraged to share their ideas and opinions.
10. This team treats mistakes as learning opportunities, not reasons to blame someone.

Scoring

• 40 to 50: Strong psychological safety. Your team feels genuinely safe to speak up. Keep doing what you’re doing, and keep checking in.
• 25 to 39: Mixed signals. Some people feel safe, but there are gaps. Look at which statements scored lowest and focus your efforts there.
• 10 to 24: Significant concerns. Your team may be holding back important information, concerns, or ideas. This is worth addressing urgently, and it starts with honest conversations about what’s getting in the way.

A few tips for using this quiz well:

• Make it anonymous. People won’t be honest about psychological safety if the quiz itself doesn’t feel safe.
• Share the results openly. Show your team you take this seriously by discussing the findings and committing to action.
• Don’t use it once and forget it. Run it every six months.

References

1. Culture Shift (2026). Speaking Up at Work Report 2026. Culture Shift.
2. Edmondson, A.C. (1999). ‘Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams.’ Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), pp. 350–383.
3. Google re:Work (2015). Guide: Understand Team Effectiveness (Project Aristotle). Google.
4. MHFA England (2026). My Whole Self: Workplace Wellbeing Report 2026.MHFA England.
5. Safecall (2025). Employee Voice Report 2025: The State of Speaking Up in UK Workplaces. Safecall.

If you’d like support building a culture where your team genuinely feels safe to speak up, get in touch. Whether it’s training, team workshops, or just a conversation about where to start, we’re always happy to chat.

Amy Huskisson 

AV Wellbeing www.avwellbeing.co.uk  amy@avwellbeing.co.uk