“Everything is going great with my team!” explained one of the online managers. When asked for more specifics, like how does he know things are going well, the answers were more ambiguous. “They seem happy, at least no one is complaining”. We frequently hear these types of comments in our work with leaders. What is striking is how team members usually respond to the same question. Clearly, the absence of conflict does not mean everything is ok.

As part of our qualitative research into virtual teams and psychological safety this summer, one clear finding has to do with faulty assumptions. The thing with communicating through a piece of technology is that things are never quite what they seem. When we are in the same room with team members, we see things, things that don’t normally turn up in a ZOOM meeting. We might notice a frustrated sigh, a quick eye roll, a smirky glance, a quick post-meeting retreat, or an individual sitting all by themself. These nonverbal cues give us a clearer understanding of things like the emotions in the room, the relational quality between individuals, social groupings, and the level of trust and psychological safety in the team.

Once we move these interactions to an online environment, we lose this type of information. And what happens when we have less information? We conveniently fill in the blanks. We add cognitive certainty to the uncertainties created by remote work. And usually the way we fill in the blanks is more in line with what we are thinking vs. what is really happening.

In our study, one research question has to do with why people hesitate to ask for help, disagree with a proposal, or add a creative solution. A number of participants gave examples of when they decided not to disagree with a proposal because they assumed no one else in the team agreed with them, or they assumed their boss was too busy or stressed, or they assumed the proposal was already set in stone. In these examples, participants later discovered the rest of the team did agree with them, or their boss was actually feeling isolated from the team, or administration privately thought the proposal was a hot mess and was looking for ways to improve it. 

In other words, psychological safety is based, at least somewhat, on assumptions about what other people are thinking. And when things are not intentionally discussed, many virtual team members will choose their default narratives (often based on insecurities and relational baggage) and decide not to participate.

So how do you build psychological safety in virtual teams? Talk to your people. Regularly solicit team members’ opinions; make it a normal part of team meetings. Ask for feedback. Check in with team members on a regular basis.

Managing in a virtual environment takes intentionality and communication. Simply assuming things are ok will only create a team where people revert to their insecurities and inaccurate assumptions. Virtual teams that communicate can create a psychologically safe space where members thrive and teams perform in amazing ways.