Have you had concerns about a team project and didn’t share it with others? Or been part of a team where you couldn’t speak up with questions? These self-protective behaviors help us manage others’ perceptions of us. No one wants to look ignorant, incompetent, intrusive or negative.

Luckily, it’s easy to avoid negative impressions. Don’t want to look ignorant? Don’t ask questions. Don’t want to look incompetent? Don’t admit weaknesses or mistakes. Don’t want to look intrusive? Don’t offer ideas. Don’t want to look negative? Don’t critique the status quo. The reward to the individual for not speaking up is almost guaranteed. Staying quiet and hoping someone else says something is an effective strategy to avoid shame and blame.

But withholding your voice can have significant negative consequences for the team. It deprives the team of the full range of the team members’ knowledge, skill, and experience and makes it less likely that the team will learn and achieve its purpose. Fortunately, empirical research has identified a set of behaviors that increase psychological safety—a shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking—and make it more likely that people will contribute.

Join this 90-minute interactive workshop, guest hosted by PowerLabs, to learn the actions you can take to increase psychological safety in your teams. The workshop is an excerpt from the "We're a Nerdy Movement Study Group"—a six-week program for organizers and campaigners who want to apply evidence-based approaches to mobilizing and organizing to build high participation people-powered campaigns. This isn't a passive webinar. Please join the call ready to participate in small group discussions.