Psychological safety is one of those phrases that's everywhere at the moment. It's in leadership talks, on training slides, in job adverts. But what does it actually look like in a busy vet practice?
What it means
Professor Amy Edmondson, who has researched this for decades, describes psychological safety as a shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking (Edmondson, 1999). In plain English: people feel able to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes and disagree, without fear of being humiliated or punished.
It's not about everyone being nice all the time. It's not about avoiding hard conversations. Psychologically safe teams often have more honest conversations, not fewer.
Google's well-known Project Aristotle research found that psychological safety was the most important factor in its most effective teams. In vetmed, it also matters for patients. The nurse who feels able to say "I'm worried about that dog" is a safety net.
What it looks like in practice
- A recent graduate asks a question that feels "silly" in rounds and gets a proper answer, without an eye roll.
- A nurse says "I don't think that dose is right" and the vet says "thank you, let's check".
- After a difficult case, the team talks about what happened without looking for someone to blame.
- The practice owner admits they got something wrong.
- People leave on time without anyone making a comment.
Small things leaders can do
Go first. If you share your own uncertainties and mistakes, others will follow. "I'm not sure, what do you think?" is a powerful sentence coming from the most senior person in the room.
Respond well to bad news. How you react the first time someone flags a problem decides whether they'll flag the next one.
Ask, then listen. "What's getting in your way at the moment?" Then resist the urge to defend or jump to solutions straight away.
Thank people for speaking up. Even when you disagree with what they've said.
Look at the system, not only the individual. When something goes wrong, ask what made it more likely, not only who did it.
Individual tools aren't enough on their own
We'll always help people build their own skills: boundaries, confidence, ways to switch off. But burnout isn't a you problem, and a team where people don't feel safe will wear down even the most self-aware person. Real change comes from working together over time.
That's exactly what our free Practice Guide covers: how we support teams, from coaching for individuals to workshops and long-term partnerships.
If you'd like to talk
We work with practices and groups across the profession on team culture, communication and wellbeing, always tailored to your team and grounded in evidence. If you'd like to explore what that could look like for yours, get in touch. No hard sell, ever.
