How to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up More

Where there is fear, there is silence. Where there is psychological safety, people speak up.

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Why doesn’t your team speak up? The answer lies in psychological safety.

For a lot of managers, getting your team to speak up is a challenge. Generally, managers themselves are the kind of people who ask a lot of questions, drive their own learning, and contribute to process or product improvement. For managers, speaking up is natural.

But there are a lot of reasons why other employees may not speak up, and a few ways to address this problem. I’m going to explore the problem and solutions as fully as possible here in this article.

Why Your Team Doesn’t Speak Up

The short answer to this question almost always is that it is not safe for them to speak up. By safety, I’m referring to psychological safety, which is an office culture that encourages people to speak up, take risks, and share ideas without fear of negative consequences. Specifically, reprisals like embarrassment, being demeaned, or even more subtle retaliation such as being ignored or sidelined create an atmosphere of fear. In such a culture, team members generally stop speaking up.

Most people are naturally curious, and most employees want to do well at their job. They want to ask questions and make suggestions. However, when managers assume they are lazy or incompetent, they initiate a cycle of mistrust. As a consequence, the manager tends to lecture them, tells them not to worry about it, judges them, or demeans them. In response to condescending behavior, team members shut down. It is simply too risky to their self-esteem to speak up. This can happen even if they see or hear of others who have received a negative response.

In Toxic Work Cultures, People Don’t Speak Up

IWhen people talk about needing a thick skin, it’s a sign the workplace is unsafe. Demeaning comments, stern warnings, political backlash, a lack of promotions, and in some cases, even yelling may be tolerated. These behaviors by those in leadership create a toxic workplace. I’ve even seen teams develop toxic habits and make their leaders feel unsafe.

People do not get used to being disrespected. Even subtle hints of judgment like telling people what they should do or a stance of superiority always ends up demeaning someone, even inadvertently. In response, they clam up, keep their ideas to themselves, and avoid the people or situations that lead to retaliation. This lowers productivity across the board. It squashes innovation, decreases motivation, and distracts from the work that actually needs to be done.

Amy Edmondson, the premiere researcher on psychological safety, tells a story of a nurse who didn’t speak up about a potentially life-saving treatment for premature twins. Why? Simply because she had heard the doctor yelling at a nurse the week before. Years later, when Edmondson interviewed her, that silence still made her feel guilty, even though the twins survived. Edmondson has documented that hospital teams who are discouraged from reporting mistakes actually have worse patient outcomes. When no one can talk about mistakes, mistakes go unaddressed and uncorrected. As a consequence, they become more frequent.

Four Ways to Help Employees Speak Up

You stand to gain a lot of productivity, innovation, and process improvement if you can get your team to speak up. If you find yourself in a workplace where employees don’t speak up, the best solution is to build trust with your team by focusing on their self-esteem. Here are four of the best ways to build self-esteem on your team.

1. Listen More than You Talk

There are few things more gratifying to a human being than being heard. Take time to really listen to your team. This is best done in a one-on-one setting. It is important to put away your devices and distractions and really listen to your employee. Take notes to show you are listening. Ask questions for more clarification. Listening is the most important sign of respect.

2. Empathize

You don’t have to solve your employees’ problems, but it’s helpful if you empathize with them. Let them know you understand how difficult their problems are. When you show that you believe in them to solve their own problems, difficult as they may be, they feel empowered. Conversely, if you take over and solve the problem for them, you are micromanaging and damaging their self-esteem. You can ask if there is anything you can do, but more often than not, they just want you to appreciate their difficulties. Ultimately, they want to solve the problems themselves.

3. Make It Safe to Speak Up about Mistakes and Problems

Because most learning in the workplace is trial-and-error, mistakes are inevitable. The key is to make it safe to speak up about them. Turn every mistake or problem into a learning opportunity. The first step is to listen, without judgment, as the employee explains what went wrong. Resist the impulse to solve their problem or tell them what to do. Simply listen as they explain what happened and empathize with their difficulties. Then, instead of giving feedback, lead them through the problem-solving process so they can decide how they want to go forward again.

4. Make Them Feel Their Ideas Matter

If you really want your employees to speak up, make them feel valued for speaking up. There are several ways to do this. Instead of telling them what to do, which is micromanaging, allow them to decide how to do their own work. Even if they make mistakes–and they certainly will–turn it into a learning experience and let them try again until they succeed. When they get it right, celebrate good work and learning.

Furthermore, recognize big wins and small ones with a high five or a hearty, “good job!”  To truly make them feel they matter, help them share any learning with the team. Some of my clients have a weekly “Tips and Tricks” section in team meetings and rotate through team members to share knowledge. This is a great way to boost self-esteem and encourage people to speak up.

 When you start prioritizing your employees’ self-esteem, your team culture will become more trusting, productive, and engaging. As a result, people will naturally speak up more.

Turn Around Team Culture to Help People Speak Up

Be aware that if the culture on the team has been unsafe for a long time, it may take awhile for people to begin to trust you as a leader. Be patient. Listen for as long as it takes. When people have been holding their tongues for a long time, they may have a lot to say. It may take six months or even a year to turn around the culture of a team. They have to believe you mean it if they are going to trust you. Stick with it! You can always make it better if you consistently prioritize your team member’s self-esteem and encourage a learning culture.  

Keep Learning

Here are a few more resources on building psychological safety on your team:

• What is Psychological Safety and How Does it Improve Performance? — Understand why it’s essential for high performance and how to build it.
• How to Help Your Team to Make Fewer Mistakes by Building a Learning Culture — Learn how a learning culture reduces mistakes and encourages speaking up.
• Trust at Work: The Most Important Way to Boost Team Performance — Discover why trust is the defining characteristic of high-performing teams.
• Validation in Leadership: The Most Important Way to Help People Grow at Work — Build the skill that unlocks motivation and candor.

Want live practice on how to build trust on your team? Sign up for my free workshop, One-on-Ones that Motivate.

FAQ’s about Speaking Up at Work

Why don’t employees speak up at work?

Usually because they don’t feel psychologically safe. Fear of judgment, embarrassment, or retaliation keeps people silent.

How can leaders encourage employees to speak up?

Create psychological safety by listening, empathizing, normalizing mistakes, and showing that their ideas have impact.

What is psychological safety?

It’s a workplace culture where people can ask questions, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences.

How long does it take to rebuild trust so people speak up again?

If the culture has been unsafe for a long time, it may take months or even a year of consistent listening and validation for employees to believe it’s truly safe.