Setting the foundations for authentic communication
Organizations worldwide are investing in ‘speak up’ initiatives. There’s increasing recognition that employee voices matter, and that’s a great thing! Yet too often these efforts overlook the human reality of the workplace, with all its emotional and interpersonal complexities. They also tend to frame speaking up in negative terms: whistleblowing, raising concerns, or admitting mistakes.
It’s time to think differently.
Speaking up can be positive — sharing a creative idea, asking a curious question, or celebrating a teammate’s success. But whatever form it takes, one thing is always true: organizations must first ensure people feel safe to share their ideas and concerns. Otherwise, you might as well be inviting them to swim across a lake with a “DANGER! Alligators” sign on the shore.
And safety is just the start. People need a mix of emotional, interpersonal, and communicative skills to share their thinking effectively. We don’t get taught this stuff at school, yet there’s an expectation that everyone has these skills. In actual fact, they’re rare. Surface-level ‘speak up’ interventions ignore this inconvenient truth. And that means they’ll never have the impact organizations need.
In this article, we’ll explore how narrow, superficial approaches to speaking up fall short. And we’ll share a more holistic approach.
Why do smart people suddenly go quiet in meetings?
Picture this:
Sarah, a brilliant software architect, confidently leads technical discussions with her team. She offers graceful solutions. She challenges flawed assumptions. She helps colleagues think through complex problems. But in monthly leadership meetings with the C-suite, she becomes subdued. Her contributions shrink to brief responses. She leaves these meetings frustrated.
Every workplace interaction triggers an unconscious risk assessment that happens in milliseconds. When someone considers whether to speak up about a concern, their decision depends on what consequences feel most likely. Countless subtle signals play their part. These might include:
- The body language of colleagues
- Different personalities in the room
- Recent organizational changes
- Memories of a colleague being publicly criticized
- An overall sense of the power dynamics at play
- Their own accumulated stress from previous interactions
If an individual senses threat, the body responds. Heart rate increases, cortisol floods the system like an internal alarm bell, and working memory capacity fades. In this fight-or-flight mode, it’s much harder to organize thoughts coherently or choose words thoughtfully. Survival becomes the priority, pushing creativity and collaboration out of the picture.
Sarah’s silence in leadership meetings is down to her nervous system doing its job. Her body has learned that in this context, with these people and power dynamics, speaking up isn’t safe.
When threat signals dominate the workplace, employees prioritize self-protection over honest expression. No amount of policy messaging or anonymous reporting tools can override this fundamental survival mechanism.
What surface-level ‘speak up’ interventions miss
Surface-level interventions create psychological safety theater — the appearance of openness without the substance. Here are two examples of common practices that lack impact in isolation:
The open door policy
Surface-level practice: Announcing an “open door policy” and encouraging employees to share concerns with management.
What it misses: The visceral experience of walking toward that open door with your heart pounding, palms sweating, and an overwhelming urge to turn around. The policy addresses the intellectual permission to speak but ignores the felt sense this interaction might not be safe. It also ignores the natural differences between introverts and extroverts — who’s likely to feel most and least comfortable coming forward?
The anonymous reporting tool
Surface-level practice: Implementing an online system for employees to report issues or offer feedback.
What it misses: The fundamental human need for connection and acknowledgment. Anonymous systems can gather data but can’t create the relational safety that emerges when people’s concerns are heard with true curiosity and care. With these tools, people often also focus on surface-level gripes, instead of the things that really need dealing with. And they’re not encouraged to take any responsibility for helping solve problems they’ve spotted.
Deep-level practice
Instead of open door policies and anonymous reporting tools, get leaders to regularly walk around the shop floor and talk to people, showing genuine interest in what’s on their minds. This avoids putting the onus on individual employees to come forward. And it makes leaders more visible and accessible. If you really want people to tell you what’s going on, this is far more effective.
Focusing on fundamental human skills
Consider this scenario:
Jensen notices that his team consistently misses project deadlines. This isn’t because people aren’t working hard. It’s because the initial scope estimates never account for the changes that clients inevitably request. He wants to raise this pattern with his manager, but how?
The conversation Jensen needs to have requires a complex orchestration of skills:
Perspective-taking
Before speaking up, Jensen needs to consider how his message will land with different audiences. His manager might hear criticism of their project planning capabilities. The sales team might worry that longer timelines will hurt their ability to win new business. Clients might resist the idea of paying more for realistic estimates.
Skilled communicators anticipate these concerns and frame their observations around shared values. Instead of saying “We never estimate projects correctly,” Jensen might say “I’ve been thinking about how we could help our clients get even better results by setting them up for success from the beginning.” This reframing opens possibilities rather than triggering defensiveness.
Emotional regulation and self-awareness
As Jensen prepares to bring this up, he feels frustrated about the repeated deadline pressures. If he brings that emotional charge into the discussion, it’s likely to trigger defensive responses and affect his own behaviour in the meeting. Effective communicators process their emotions privately before engaging in problem-solving conversations.
Collaborative exploration
If Jensen walks into this conversation with a ready-made solution, his manager might feel bypassed. Instead, he could approach it as a shared puzzle to solve. “I’ve noticed a pattern with our project timelines that I’d love to get your perspective on,” he might begin. “We seem to hit the same challenges around scope creep, and I’m wondering if there’s something we’re missing in how we set expectations and boundaries upfront.”
This is about presenting observations without claiming to have all the answers.Genuine curiosity about his manager’s view opens space for them to co-create solutions. This collaborative stance makes his manager a partner in problem-solving rather than a target for criticism.
Emotional labeling and validation
If Jensen’s manager does become defensive, he might say, “I can see this feels frustrating. These project planning challenges are really complex, and you’ve been managing a lot of competing pressures.”
This kind of emotional acknowledgment makes it easier to address difficult topics. It demonstrates that the speaker sees the other person’s humanity, not just the problem they want to solve.
Relationship maintenance and repair
Even the most skillfully delivered feedback can sometimes land badly. This might be due to timing or stress levels, for instance. Effective communicators are sensitive to when conversations are going off track and know how to get them back on course.
Jensen might notice his manager’s body language shift during their conversation. He could say, “I’m sensing I might not be explaining this clearly. Can you help me understand what you’re thinking about this?”
Or he might suggest they both take some time to reflect, before coming back together another time to discuss solutions.
Navigating an exchange like this doesn’t come naturally to most. The sophistication required for this single conversation is remarkable. But guess what? Humans are remarkable creatures! Give them the right habitat, and the right support, and you’ll be amazed by what they can accomplish.
Designing a program of change
Here’s how we help organizations go beyond ‘speaking up’ using our 5 Levels of Culture framework:
Level 1: Personal Culture
Individual beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors
- We help individual employees understand their limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns that stop them thriving.
- We equip people to recognize emotional triggers and manage their responses constructively.
- We strengthen emotional intelligence and self-awareness as core skills for everyday work and relationships.
Level 2: One-to-One Culture
Direct interactions between individuals
- We help people be more present and attentive in conversations, noticing verbal and non-verbal cues.
- We teach people to respond with clarity, respect, and empathy, managing triggers and emotions in the moment.
- We create trust in everyday exchanges through active listening and constructive dialogue.
Level 3: Team Culture
Dynamics and interactions within teams
- We set clear team norms, expectations, and ways of working that respect individual safety needs.
- We help teams navigate team dynamics, personalities, and boundaries to create a sense of belonging.
- We structure meetings and collaborative processes to invite contribution rather than competition.
Level 4: Collaboration Culture
Interactions between different teams and departments
- We develop ways for teams to share information, align goals, and work across departments effectively.
- We facilitate cross-team problem-solving and joint decision-making around shared challenges.
- Identify and remove structural or process barriers that create friction between teams.
Level 5: Organization Culture
Overarching culture driven by leadership actions and policies
- We ensure leaders model the behaviours that make real dialogue possible.
- We design environments and processes that support people’s internal state of safety.
- We eliminate policies and practices that inadvertently punish authentic communication.
Nurturing the ecosystem your organization needs
At the Psychological Safety Institute, we help businesses unlock true transformation by starting with the foundations, then building practical, relationship-strengthening skills. Creating workplaces where everyone takes responsibility for making interactions psychologically safe. Where people confidently handle challenging conversations, where collaboration feels natural, where every individual can thrive.
Authentic Organizations, where people achieve extraordinary results, together.
Forget ‘speaking up’; this is what real change looks like.
Be the changemaker
Culture change starts with you as a champion. And momentum gathers from the inside out. Our Champions Program is the only in-depth psychological safety course of its kind:
- CPD-accredited
- Goes beyond ‘speak up’ culture, fully unpacking psychological safety
- Arms you with unique tools for creating culture change, from individual to organizational level
The program is available to organizations year-round, and to individuals on public courses scheduled throughout the year.