Empathy • Seeing the world as others see it. • Recognizing and understanding another’s feelings. • Staying non-judgemental. • Communicating that you understand.
Project Aristotle • Five-year study of team dynamics at Google. • Goal: find predictor of high-performing teams. • Conclusion: psychological safety correlates with performance.
Psychological Safety • Important that developers feel able to ask questions, raise concerns. • Especially necessary in small, resource-constrained teams.
Other Good Ideas • Small talk at the beginning of meetings. • Watch out for people getting interrupted in meetings. • Don’t push for immediate feedback. • Allow space to revisit discussions. • Practice empathy: reflect on meetings, focus on peers’ feelings.
Wrap Up 1. Feelings matter, science says so. 2. High psychological safety correlates with performance. 3. Operationalizing psychological safety is hard but worth it.