Constraints and uncertainty. Tight budgets, stretched resources, and deliverables ramping up. If you’re leading a team, this all probably sounds familiar. And on a personal level, it’s easy to feel bombarded with negative news and juggling personal stressors. 

All of these elements filter down, shaping how people show up to work and influencing mental capacity, focus, and morale.

In this environment, priorities often shift, deadlines are missed, and you may notice small missteps escalating into major issues. The natural generosity and goodwill coworkers once had, feels like it’s starting to erode, and it can seem like you’re constantly pivoting from one problem to the next.

This isn’t how people want to operate, it’s a human reaction to an environment they feel powerless to influence. 

If you’re leading a team or organisation, building a culture of psychological safety can be a stabiliser and differentiator in navigating the current environment. Psychological safety, put simply, is the belief that it’s safe to speak up, share ideas, and take interpersonal risks, without fear of negative consequences. When it exists, it fosters a sense of belonging that anchors people, and amplifies their ability to problem-solve and innovate.

Like any working relationship, psychological safety takes ongoing attention and intention to maintain. It can be derailed when capacity is limited and goalposts shift. Under pressure, communication can become more reactive. I’ve witnessed the defeated language that signals to a team there’s no point in even trying, a question or comment in a meeting that escalates into interdepartmental tension, or the smallest incident being framed as self-serving and intentional. 

So how do you maintain psychological safety when everything seems to be working against it?

Check capacity

Leaders’ own resilience, and mindset, set the tone for their teams. If a leader is exhausted or cynical, it will influence their tone, patience, and ability to listen. Encourage leaders to reflect on their capacity, and identify what will help them maintain endurance and hold the space for their teams through peak periods and ongoing stress.

Support energy and boundaries

Stressful times demand more energy. Leaders who model personal boundaries, and prioritise their own wellbeing and life outside work signal to their teams that it’s safe to do the same. Leaders who do this proactively find it is one of the most effective ways to support sustainable work practices and demonstrate that people come before process.

Nurture relationships

Strong relational connections across teams and departments are essential for navigating challenges and misunderstandings. Support leaders and managers to prioritise relationship-building, collaborative problem-solving, and open dialogue, even when deadlines are tight. These trusted connections become stabilisers when things feel uncertain, and the lubricant that helps resolve sticking points.

Be aware of behavioural dynamics

Under pressure, teams often slip into familiar patterns like the “drama triangle” – persecutor, victim, rescuer. Encourage leaders to recognise these dynamics and guide teams toward more empowering approaches, where accountability and problem-solving replace blame and conflict. You can learn more about the empowerment dynamic here.

Create inclusion and stability through rituals and culture

Support leaders to co-create simple workplace rituals that foster inclusion, connection, and stability. Rituals can be as small as regular check-ins, team huddles, or structured reflection. The key is consistency and relevance to the team’s current experience.

Meet teams where they are

Leaders need to understand their team’s current interpersonal habits and approach to collaboration and problem-solving.  Frameworks like Amy Edmondson’s three stages of psychological safety can help leaders identify their team’s current stage and select tools and rituals that are most likely to stick. To take a once toxic dynamic to one with high intellectual challenge, you need to approach it in phases.

Encourage regular check-ins

Guide leaders to schedule regular 1:1 and team conversations, focused on how people are experiencing work. These conversations should cover challenges, preferred forms of support, and opportunities for recognition or growth. During high-pressure periods, adjust the frequency to help smooth the ups and downs and maintain clarity and focus.

Sometimes more support is needed

Even with these practices in place, every environment has its unique challenges and some situations require more in-depth support – whether it’s developing leadership capability, co-designing ways of working, or unpacking complex interpersonal dynamics.