Fundamentals

Consider this ● roughly 70% of employees admit to withholding ideas at work, a silent suppression of potential innovation directly linked to a perceived lack of safety in voicing opinions. This isn’t some abstract concept; it’s the daily reality in countless Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) where the stakes feel incredibly high and the margin for error razor-thin. Psychological safety, the bedrock of teams where individuals feel secure enough to take interpersonal risks, to speak up with questions, concerns, and even half-baked ideas without fear of ridicule or retribution, is frequently perceived as a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than a ‘must-have’ in the fast-paced SMB world.

However, dismissing it as secondary is akin to ignoring a critical engine component while focusing solely on the paint job. For SMBs, psychological safety Meaning ● Psychological safety in SMBs is a shared belief of team safety for interpersonal risk-taking, crucial for growth and automation success. isn’t a fluffy HR initiative; it’s a strategic imperative directly tied to growth, innovation, and long-term sustainability.

Understanding Core Concepts

Before diving into strategies, establishing a clear understanding of psychological safety within the SMB context is essential. It’s about creating an environment where employees feel comfortable being themselves, contributing authentically, and challenging the status quo without fearing negative consequences to their self-image, status, or career. In smaller businesses, the impact of interpersonal dynamics is amplified. Every interaction, every comment, every reaction carries more weight.

The owner’s or manager’s behavior, in particular, sets the tone for the entire organization. If leadership inadvertently creates a culture of fear, even subtly, the ripple effects can be profound, stifling creativity, hindering problem-solving, and ultimately impacting the bottom line.

Defining Psychological Safety

Psychological safety, in its simplest form, is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor who pioneered research in this area, describes it as a “shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” This definition is crucial because it highlights the collective nature of psychological safety. It’s not just about individual comfort levels; it’s about the shared perception within the team or organization. In an SMB, this ‘team’ can often be the entire company, making the need for a pervasive sense of safety even more critical.

Differentiating from Related Concepts

Psychological safety is sometimes confused with similar concepts, yet distinct differences exist. It is not simply trust, although trust contributes to it. Trust is often interpersonal and built over time between individuals. Psychological safety is broader, encompassing the team or organizational climate.

It also differs from simply being ‘nice’ or agreeable. A psychologically safe environment can still involve robust debate, constructive criticism, and even conflict. The key difference lies in the intent and impact of these interactions. In a safe space, disagreements are seen as opportunities for growth and learning, not personal attacks or career-ending moves.

It is also not about lowering performance standards. In fact, when employees feel safe, they are more likely to take risks, push boundaries, and ultimately perform at higher levels.

The SMB Imperative

Why should SMB owners, already juggling a million tasks, prioritize psychological safety? The answer lies in the unique challenges and opportunities SMBs face. Smaller businesses often rely heavily on the agility and adaptability of their teams to compete with larger corporations. Innovation is not a luxury; it’s a survival mechanism.

Psychological safety unlocks this innovation potential by encouraging employees to contribute their best ideas, challenge outdated processes, and identify potential problems early on. In environments where resources are often limited, maximizing the intellectual capital of every employee becomes paramount. A culture of safety allows SMBs to tap into this often-untapped resource.

Boosting Innovation and Creativity

Innovation doesn’t magically appear in a vacuum. It’s the product of experimentation, iteration, and, crucially, the willingness to fail and learn from mistakes. In psychologically unsafe environments, employees are hesitant to propose unconventional ideas or challenge established norms for fear of being seen as incompetent or disruptive. This self-censorship stifles creativity and limits the organization’s ability to adapt and evolve.

Conversely, when employees feel safe to experiment, to voice ‘crazy’ ideas, and to learn from failures without blame, innovation flourishes. SMBs that cultivate psychological safety are better positioned to generate novel solutions, adapt to market changes, and stay ahead of the competition.

Improving Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Effective problem-solving requires diverse perspectives Meaning ● Diverse Perspectives, in the context of SMB growth, automation, and implementation, signifies the inclusion of varied viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences within the team to improve problem-solving and innovation. and open communication. When employees are afraid to speak up about potential issues or disagree with decisions, critical information can be withheld, leading to flawed problem analysis and suboptimal outcomes. Psychological safety encourages employees to raise concerns, challenge assumptions, and offer alternative viewpoints, leading to more comprehensive problem analysis and better-informed decisions. In SMBs, where mistakes can have a disproportionately large impact, this ability to surface and address problems early is invaluable.

Enhancing Employee Engagement and Retention

In today’s competitive labor market, attracting and retaining top talent is a constant struggle for SMBs. Employees are increasingly seeking workplaces where they feel valued, respected, and psychologically safe. A culture of fear and silence breeds disengagement, burnout, and ultimately, turnover. High turnover is particularly damaging for SMBs, disrupting team dynamics, increasing recruitment costs, and hindering institutional knowledge transfer.

SMBs that prioritize psychological safety create a more positive and supportive work environment, leading to higher employee engagement, increased job satisfaction, and improved retention rates. This translates directly to reduced costs, improved productivity, and a stronger organizational foundation.

Psychological safety in SMBs is not a ‘soft skill’; it is a hard business advantage, directly impacting innovation, problem-solving, and employee retention.

Practical First Steps for SMBs

For SMB owners ready to cultivate psychological safety, the journey begins with practical, actionable steps. It’s not about overnight transformations but consistent, deliberate actions that signal a genuine commitment to creating a safer and more supportive work environment. These initial steps focus on leadership behavior, communication practices, and establishing foundational norms.

Leadership Modeling and Vulnerability

Psychological safety starts at the top. Leaders, particularly SMB owners and managers, must model the behaviors they want to see in their teams. This begins with demonstrating vulnerability. Openly admitting mistakes, acknowledging limitations, and seeking input from others signals that it’s safe to be imperfect and to learn.

Leaders who project an image of infallibility inadvertently create an environment where employees are afraid to admit their own errors or ask for help. By contrast, leaders who are willing to be vulnerable create a culture of openness and learning.

Active Listening and Open Communication

Creating psychologically safe spaces requires active listening and fostering open communication channels. This means genuinely listening to employees’ concerns, ideas, and feedback without interruption or judgment. It involves creating regular opportunities for open dialogue, such as team meetings, feedback sessions, or even informal check-ins.

SMBs can implement simple practices like ’round-robin’ feedback during meetings to ensure everyone has a chance to speak or utilize anonymous feedback mechanisms to encourage honest input without fear of reprisal. The key is to demonstrate that employee voices are valued and that feedback is actively sought and considered.

Establishing Clear Norms and Expectations

Explicitly defining team or organizational norms around communication, feedback, and error handling is crucial. This involves setting clear expectations that speaking up is encouraged, questions are welcomed, and mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. SMBs can codify these norms in team charters or company values statements and reinforce them through regular communication and leadership modeling.

For example, a norm could be ‘assume positive intent’ in all interactions, or ‘feedback is a gift’ to reframe potentially difficult conversations. Clear norms provide a framework for behavior and help create a shared understanding of what psychological safety looks like in practice.

Celebrating Learning and Growth

Shifting the focus from blame to learning is a fundamental aspect of building psychological safety. This involves celebrating learning and growth, even when they arise from mistakes or failures. SMBs can implement practices like ‘failure debriefs’ after projects to analyze what went wrong and what can be learned without assigning blame.

Publicly acknowledging and celebrating instances where employees take risks, speak up with concerns, or learn from errors reinforces the desired behaviors and signals that these actions are valued. This positive reinforcement is far more effective than focusing solely on punishing mistakes, which can inadvertently undermine psychological safety.

Building psychological safety in an SMB is not a quick fix; it’s an ongoing process of cultural evolution. These fundamental strategies provide a starting point, a foundation upon which to build a more resilient, innovative, and engaged organization. By prioritizing these initial steps, SMBs can begin to unlock the hidden potential within their teams and create a workplace where everyone feels safe to contribute their best.

Intermediate

Moving beyond foundational concepts, SMBs ready to deepen their commitment to psychological safety can explore more sophisticated strategies. These approaches delve into systemic integration, leveraging technology, and addressing potentially sensitive yet critical aspects of organizational culture. The aim shifts from simply understanding psychological safety to actively embedding it into the operational fabric of the business, recognizing its strategic value as a competitive differentiator.

Systemic Integration Strategies

Psychological safety, when truly effective, is not a standalone program; it’s woven into the very systems and processes that govern an SMB. This integration requires a deliberate and thoughtful approach, considering how existing workflows, performance management Meaning ● Performance Management, in the realm of SMBs, constitutes a strategic, ongoing process centered on aligning individual employee efforts with overarching business goals, thereby boosting productivity and profitability. systems, and communication protocols either support or undermine a culture of safety. Intermediate strategies focus on aligning these systems to reinforce psychological safety at every level of the organization.

Integrating into Performance Management

Traditional performance management systems, often heavily focused on individual metrics and error avoidance, can inadvertently erode psychological safety. SMBs can recalibrate these systems to incorporate elements that actively promote safety. This includes shifting the focus from solely rewarding individual achievement to recognizing team contributions and collaborative behaviors. Performance reviews can include dimensions that assess an employee’s contribution to psychological safety within their team, such as their willingness to speak up, offer support to colleagues, and constructively challenge ideas.

Furthermore, feedback processes should be redesigned to be more frequent, developmental, and focused on growth rather than solely on evaluation. 360-degree feedback, when implemented thoughtfully, can provide a more holistic view of an employee’s impact on team dynamics and psychological safety.

Embedding in Decision-Making Processes

The way decisions are made within an SMB significantly impacts the perceived level of psychological safety. Hierarchical, top-down decision-making can stifle input from lower levels and create a sense of powerlessness. Embedding psychological safety into decision-making involves adopting more inclusive and participatory approaches. This could include incorporating diverse perspectives in decision-making teams, utilizing techniques like ‘devil’s advocate’ to encourage constructive dissent, and establishing clear processes for voicing concerns and challenging decisions without fear of retribution.

Transparency in decision-making is also crucial. When employees understand the rationale behind decisions, even if they disagree, it fosters a sense of fairness and reduces the perception of arbitrary or punitive actions.

Aligning with Automation and Technology Implementation

As SMBs increasingly adopt automation and technology, it’s vital to consider the impact on psychological safety. Technology implementation Meaning ● Strategic integration of tech to optimize SMB operations and growth. can be perceived as threatening, creating anxiety about job security or skill obsolescence. To mitigate these risks, SMBs should proactively communicate the rationale behind automation initiatives, involve employees in the implementation process, and provide ample training and support to adapt to new technologies. Furthermore, technology itself can be leveraged to enhance psychological safety.

Anonymous feedback platforms, collaboration tools that facilitate open communication, and AI-powered sentiment analysis tools can provide valuable insights into employee perceptions and help identify potential safety concerns before they escalate. However, it’s crucial to implement these technologies ethically and transparently, ensuring they are used to support, not monitor or control, employees.

Advanced Communication and Feedback Mechanisms

Moving beyond basic open communication, intermediate strategies involve implementing more structured and sophisticated feedback mechanisms. These are designed to proactively surface potential safety issues, foster continuous improvement, and create a culture of ongoing dialogue and learning. The focus shifts from reactive problem-solving to preventative measures and proactive culture building.

Regular Psychological Safety Audits

Just as financial audits assess fiscal health, psychological safety audits provide a structured way to assess the organizational climate and identify areas for improvement. These audits can involve employee surveys, focus groups, and even observational studies to gauge the perceived level of safety across different teams and departments. The key is to ensure anonymity and confidentiality to encourage honest feedback.

Audit results should be transparently communicated to employees, and action plans should be developed collaboratively to address identified issues. Regular audits, conducted perhaps annually or bi-annually, demonstrate a commitment to ongoing monitoring and improvement of psychological safety.

Structured Feedback Protocols

Beyond ad-hoc feedback, SMBs can implement structured feedback protocols to ensure consistent and constructive dialogue. This could include regular 1-on-1 meetings between managers and employees with a dedicated focus on psychological safety, team retrospectives after projects to analyze team dynamics and communication effectiveness, and ‘skip-level’ meetings where senior leaders connect directly with employees at lower levels to gain unfiltered feedback. Structured feedback protocols provide predictable channels for communication and ensure that psychological safety remains a consistent topic of conversation.

Conflict Resolution and Mediation Training

Conflict is inevitable in any organization, but how it’s handled significantly impacts psychological safety. Unresolved or poorly managed conflict can erode trust and create a climate of fear. SMBs can invest in conflict resolution and mediation training for managers and employees to equip them with the skills to navigate disagreements constructively.

Establishing clear conflict resolution processes, including access to mediation services if needed, signals a commitment to addressing conflict fairly and respectfully. Training should emphasize active listening, empathy, and finding mutually agreeable solutions, reinforcing the message that conflict can be a source of learning and growth, not just negativity.

Integrating psychological safety into performance management, decision-making, and technology implementation transforms it from an initiative to an organizational operating principle.

Addressing Sensitive Issues and Bias

Psychological safety is not just about feeling comfortable sharing ideas; it also encompasses feeling safe to address sensitive issues and navigate potential biases within the workplace. These issues, often unspoken or avoided, can significantly undermine psychological safety if not addressed proactively and thoughtfully. Intermediate strategies tackle these challenges head-on, fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment.

Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

A truly psychologically safe workplace is inherently diverse, equitable, and inclusive. When employees from diverse backgrounds feel valued, respected, and included, psychological safety is strengthened for everyone. SMBs can actively promote DEI through inclusive hiring practices, diversity training, and employee resource groups. Creating a culture where diverse perspectives are not just tolerated but actively sought and celebrated is crucial.

Addressing unconscious biases, both at the individual and systemic levels, is also essential. This requires ongoing education, awareness-building, and a commitment to creating equitable opportunities for all employees.

Addressing Microaggressions and Bias Incidents

Microaggressions and bias incidents, even when unintentional, can have a significant negative impact on psychological safety, particularly for marginalized groups. SMBs need to establish clear policies and procedures for reporting and addressing these incidents. This includes providing safe and confidential channels for reporting, conducting thorough investigations, and taking appropriate corrective action.

Training on microaggressions and unconscious bias can help raise awareness and prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place. Creating a culture of zero tolerance for bias and discrimination is paramount to fostering a truly safe and inclusive workplace.

Fostering a Culture of Psychological Courage

Beyond psychological safety, SMBs can cultivate ‘psychological courage’ ● the willingness to speak up about difficult or sensitive issues, even when it’s uncomfortable or risky. This requires creating an environment where employees feel not just safe, but also empowered to challenge the status quo, raise ethical concerns, and advocate for positive change. Leadership plays a crucial role in modeling psychological courage by openly addressing difficult topics, encouraging dissent, and rewarding employees who demonstrate courage in speaking up. This goes beyond simply avoiding punishment for speaking up; it’s about actively recognizing and celebrating courageous acts of voice.

Intermediate strategies for enhancing psychological safety move beyond basic awareness and implementation to systemic integration Meaning ● Systemic Integration for SMBs: Strategically connecting business parts for efficiency, insight, and growth. and proactive culture building. By embedding safety into core processes, implementing advanced communication mechanisms, and addressing sensitive issues head-on, SMBs can create workplaces where psychological safety is not just a concept, but a lived reality, driving innovation, engagement, and sustainable success.

Table 1 ● Psychological Safety Strategies for SMBs – Intermediate Level

Advanced

For SMBs aspiring to organizational excellence, psychological safety transcends operational necessity, evolving into a strategic asset, a core competency driving sustained competitive advantage. Advanced strategies in this domain involve sophisticated organizational design, leveraging behavioral economics Meaning ● Behavioral Economics, within the context of SMB growth, automation, and implementation, represents the strategic application of psychological insights to understand and influence the economic decisions of customers, employees, and stakeholders. principles, and cultivating a culture of continuous learning Meaning ● Continuous Learning, in the context of SMB growth, automation, and implementation, denotes a sustained commitment to skill enhancement and knowledge acquisition at all organizational levels. and adaptation. The focus shifts from simply mitigating risks to proactively engineering a high-performance, psychologically safe ecosystem.

Organizational Design for Psychological Safety

Traditional hierarchical organizational structures, with their inherent power imbalances and communication silos, can inadvertently impede psychological safety. Advanced strategies explore alternative organizational designs that inherently promote safety, distribute power more equitably, and foster more fluid communication flows. This involves rethinking organizational charts, team structures, and reporting relationships to create environments where psychological safety is organically embedded.

Moving Towards Holacratic or Teal Structures

Holacracy and Teal organizations represent radical departures from traditional hierarchies, distributing authority and decision-making across self-organizing teams or ‘circles.’ In these structures, roles are defined around work, not individuals, and power is distributed based on expertise and contribution, rather than hierarchical position. This flattened structure can significantly enhance psychological safety by reducing power differentials, fostering a sense of shared ownership, and encouraging more open and direct communication. While fully adopting Holacracy or Teal may be a significant undertaking for some SMBs, principles from these models, such as self-management, distributed authority, and transparent decision-making, can be selectively implemented to enhance psychological safety within more conventional structures.

Designing for Cross-Functional Collaboration

Siloed departments and lack of cross-functional collaboration Meaning ● Cross-functional collaboration, in the context of SMB growth, represents a strategic operational framework that facilitates seamless cooperation among various departments. can create ‘us vs. them’ mentalities, undermining psychological safety across organizational boundaries. Designing for cross-functional collaboration involves creating team structures and processes that actively encourage interaction and information sharing across different departments or functional areas.

This could involve establishing cross-functional project teams, implementing matrix reporting structures, or creating shared physical or virtual workspaces that facilitate informal interaction. Breaking down silos and fostering cross-functional relationships builds bridges of trust and understanding, enhancing psychological safety across the entire organization.

Optimizing Team Composition and Dynamics

Team composition and dynamics play a crucial role in psychological safety. Homogenous teams, while potentially efficient in the short term, can stifle diverse perspectives and reduce psychological safety for individuals who feel like ‘outsiders.’ Optimizing team composition involves consciously building diverse teams, not just in terms of demographics, but also in terms of skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. Furthermore, understanding and managing team dynamics is critical.

Tools like team assessments, personality profiles, and facilitated team-building sessions can help identify potential dynamics that might undermine psychological safety and develop strategies to foster more positive and inclusive team environments. The aim is to create teams where individuals feel both valued for their unique contributions and a sense of belonging.

Behavioral Economics and Nudging for Safety

Behavioral economics provides insights into how cognitive biases and psychological tendencies influence decision-making and behavior in organizations. Advanced strategies leverage these insights to ‘nudge’ employees and leaders towards behaviors that promote psychological safety. This involves subtly influencing choices and actions through changes in the environment, communication, or processes, rather than through direct mandates or top-down directives.

Framing and Priming for Openness

The way information is framed and presented can significantly impact how it’s received and acted upon. Framing and priming techniques can be used to encourage openness and psychological safety. For example, when soliciting feedback, framing the request as ‘seeking input to improve’ rather than ‘identifying problems’ can create a more positive and receptive mindset.

Priming employees with positive messages about collaboration, learning, and growth before meetings or feedback sessions can also subtly influence their behavior and create a more psychologically safe atmosphere. Subtle shifts in language and communication can have a powerful cumulative effect on shaping organizational culture.

Choice Architecture for Feedback Seeking

Choice architecture, the design of environments in which people make decisions, can be used to encourage feedback seeking and speaking up. Making feedback mechanisms easily accessible and low-friction can increase participation. For example, embedding feedback buttons directly into internal communication platforms or project management tools, or providing templates and prompts for giving and receiving feedback, can make it easier and more natural for employees to share their thoughts and concerns.

Conversely, making it difficult or time-consuming to provide feedback can inadvertently discourage voice and undermine psychological safety. Designing ‘choice-friendly’ feedback systems is a subtle but effective way to promote open communication.

Social Norming and Peer Influence

Social norms, the unwritten rules of behavior within a group, exert a powerful influence on individual actions. Leveraging social norming and peer influence can be a highly effective way to promote psychological safety. This involves highlighting and celebrating examples of positive behaviors, such as employees speaking up, offering support, or constructively challenging ideas.

Peer recognition programs, storytelling initiatives that showcase positive team dynamics, and leader endorsements of psychologically safe behaviors can all contribute to shaping social norms that reinforce safety. When employees see their peers and leaders modeling and rewarding these behaviors, it becomes more socially acceptable and even expected to act in ways that promote psychological safety.

Advanced psychological safety strategies move beyond tactical implementation to strategic organizational design Meaning ● Strategic structuring of SMBs for growth, efficiency, and adaptability in a dynamic, automated environment. and behavioral influence, creating a self-reinforcing culture of safety and high performance.

Continuous Learning and Adaptive Culture

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, psychological safety is not a static state to be achieved, but an ongoing capability to be cultivated and adapted. Advanced strategies focus on building a culture of continuous learning and adaptation, where psychological safety is not just a value, but a dynamic process of organizational evolution.

Learning from Failures and Near Misses

Organizations that truly embrace psychological safety see failures and near misses not as sources of blame, but as invaluable learning opportunities. Advanced strategies involve establishing robust systems for learning from failures, including blameless post-mortems, ‘after-action reviews,’ and knowledge-sharing platforms. The focus is on identifying systemic issues, process flaws, and areas for improvement, rather than assigning individual fault.

Creating a culture where ‘failing forward’ is not just tolerated but actively encouraged is essential for continuous learning and adaptation. This requires a fundamental shift in mindset, from a culture of error avoidance to a culture of learning from errors.

Experimentation and Iteration Mindset

An adaptive culture Meaning ● Adaptive Culture: SMB's organizational capability to proactively adjust to change for sustained growth. is characterized by a willingness to experiment, iterate, and continuously improve. Psychological safety is a prerequisite for fostering this experimentation mindset. When employees feel safe to try new approaches, to challenge assumptions, and to learn from both successes and failures, innovation flourishes. Advanced strategies involve creating ‘safe-to-fail’ environments for experimentation, where small-scale experiments can be conducted without fear of catastrophic consequences.

This could involve setting up ‘innovation labs,’ providing resources for employee-led experiments, or adopting agile methodologies that emphasize iterative development and continuous feedback. The goal is to create an organization that is constantly learning, adapting, and evolving.

Resilience and Psychological Safety in Change Management

Organizational change, whether driven by market disruptions, technological advancements, or strategic shifts, can be inherently stressful and anxiety-provoking, potentially undermining psychological safety. Advanced strategies proactively address psychological safety in change management Meaning ● Change Management in SMBs is strategically guiding organizational evolution for sustained growth and adaptability in a dynamic environment. processes. This involves transparent communication about the rationale for change, involving employees in the change process, providing ample support and training to adapt to new realities, and actively addressing employee concerns and anxieties.

Building organizational resilience, the ability to bounce back from setbacks and adapt to change, is intrinsically linked to psychological safety. Organizations with high levels of psychological safety are better equipped to navigate change effectively and emerge stronger on the other side.

List 1 ● Advanced Psychological Safety Strategies for SMBs

1. Organizational Design for Safety ● Explore Holacracy/Teal principles, design for cross-functional collaboration, optimize team composition.
2. Behavioral Economics Nudges ● Frame communication for openness, design choice architecture Meaning ● Choice Architecture, within the SMB landscape, represents the strategic design of environments in which individuals make decisions impacting business growth. for feedback, leverage social norming.
3. Continuous Learning Culture ● Learn from failures, foster experimentation, build resilience in change management.

List 2 ● Key Considerations for Advanced Psychological Safety Implementation

• Leadership Commitment ● Deep and sustained commitment from top leadership is paramount.
• Data-Driven Approach ● Utilize data and metrics to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
• Employee Involvement ● Involve employees at all levels in the design and implementation of strategies.
• Long-Term Perspective ● Recognize that building psychological safety is a long-term journey, not a quick fix.
• Contextual Adaptation ● Tailor strategies to the specific context and culture of the SMB.

Advanced strategies for enhancing psychological safety represent a significant evolution from foundational and intermediate approaches. They require a deep understanding of organizational dynamics, behavioral economics, and change management. However, the rewards are substantial ● SMBs that successfully implement these advanced strategies can create truly exceptional workplaces, characterized by high performance, continuous innovation, and a resilient, adaptive culture, positioning them for sustained success in an increasingly complex and competitive business landscape.

References

• Edmondson, Amy C. The Fearless Organization ● Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
• Kahn, William A. “Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work.” Academy of Management Journal, vol. 33, no. 4, 1990, pp. 692-724.
• Nembhard, Ingrid M., and Amy C. Edmondson. “Psychological Safety ● Further Directions for Health Care Research.” BMJ Quality & Safety, vol. 15, suppl. 1, 2006, pp. i49-i56.