Creating Psychological Safety

Ice breakers help build trust, foster connection, and create psychological safety which are foundational for effective teamwork, collaboration, and communication. Effective ice breakers create environments that are inclusive and feel safe for employees to be open and share.

They encourage employees to find commonalities and see “the human” they work with, not the employee. This also includes how employees see you as a leader. When you participate, employees get to know you as a human, not just their leader and you become more approachable.

Tips for using icebreakers:

• Align the icebreaker with the team’s comfort level.

• Always participate yourself. Don’t sit on the sidelines and observe. Your participation can influence how others participate.

• Use them consistently, not just once. Inconsistency equals ineffectiveness and can be counterproductive to team building, collaboration and psychological safety which are built over time.