Psychological Safety Programme: A Case Study in Transformational Team Culture
“What it is to give of our confident, fearless best on a consistent basis in the service of one another, the business, and our customers?”
The Challenge
A large and complex organisation with over 4,000 employees had recently welcomed a new chief executive and launched a major transformation initiative. Early signs of concern emerged — customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and retention were all beginning to dip. Despite adequate performance on paper, the leadership believed the organisation was falling short of its potential, missing key opportunities for improvement and innovation.
Our Solution
We designed and delivered a Psychological Safety Programme, not as a standard training course, but as an immersive inquiry. At its core was one powerful question:
“What does it mean to give our confident, fearless best — consistently — in service of one another, the business, and our customers?”
This programme was about enabling teams to deeply explore what psychological safety looks and feels like in their workplace — and then to take tangible action.
Outcomes & Impact
Teams described the experience as “very different and far more impactful than content-led training days.”
Workshop 1 was particularly praised for its structure and ability to surface valuable team conversations.
Two months on, teams had made substantial progress on two of their three agreed actions, with the third scheduled for rollout.
Participants noted increased momentum, better collaboration, and a deeper sense of team ownership.
“I think a lot of the team were quite apprehensive but then really valued the time to get to know each other and have conversations we would not normally have.”
Safety, Ethics & Professionalism
The programme was designed and delivered by a qualified psychologist and an experienced leadership coach. It was piloted with two teams and approved by the organisation’s Head of Learning & Development. All activities respected confidentiality, psychological safety, and participants' comfort levels throughout.
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Get in touch to learn how our Psychological Safety Programme could help transform your organisation.
Programme Design & Delivery
Facilitated by Dave Stewart, senior leader and coach, and Hayley Gillard, business psychologist and coach, the programme was delivered across multiple teams and involved over 100 managers and leaders. Here's how the three-month journey unfolded:
1. Online Briefing Session
Introduced the concept of psychological safety, explained the journey ahead, and set the tone for honest, reflective participation.
2. Questionnaire & Workbook
Participants completed a confidential questionnaire and received a workbook filled with models, insights, and exercises to reflect on strengths, areas for development, and personal contributions to team dynamics.
3. Pre-Workshop Homework
This included:
A Personal Disclosure exercise
Creating a “Manual of Me”
Reviewing the workbook to identify valuable models for discussion
4. Workshop 1: In-Person Discovery Day
This one-day session focused on building trust, reviewing shared reflections, and envisioning the ideal team culture. Teams identified three actionable priorities to embed psychological safety into daily working life.
“The personal disclosure exercise was powerful and super-helpful in building connection and understanding across the team.”
5. Self-Led Workplace Actions (4–6 weeks)
Teams implemented their priority actions in the workplace, supported by the facilitation team as needed.
6. Workshop 2: Online Accountability Session
An hour-long follow-up to reflect, share learnings, and commit to next steps.
7. Ongoing Coaching
Coaching support was available at any point throughout the programme.