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Question bank

Easy Read questions about feeling safe in your team

These are the 34 questions from our team survey, written in Easy Read. Easy Read uses short sentences and everyday words. Anyone can choose it. You can copy these questions into your own survey. Or you can run them with Measure, next to the standard English.

How to use them

• Choose 7 to 10 questions. This takes about 3 minutes to answer. Do not use more than 14.

• Use 5 answers. No, Mostly no, In between, Mostly yes, Yes. Then look at how spread out the answers are. Do not just look at the average.

• You can change the words. Use the words your team uses. That is fine.

• No one should know who said what. Do not ask for names. Wait for at least 4 answers before you look at the results.

The questions, by theme

Speaking up

This is about whether people say what they think. The other themes ask what makes it safe. This one asks if people really do speak up.

1. In my team, I can talk about problems. I can also say when I do not agree with an idea.Based on Edmondson (1999)
2. People in my team feel OK to say when they are worried about our work.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
3. In my team, we usually feel OK talking about it when we do not agree.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
4. In my team, we make sure everyone gets to say what they think.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”

Learning from mistakes

This is about what happens after a mistake. It shows if it is safe to get things wrong in front of each other.

1. If I make a mistake, my team will not think badly of me because of it.Based on Edmondson (1999)Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
2. In my team, I can say I made a mistake without being scared of what people will say.
3. In my team, we talk about mistakes. We talk about what we can learn from them.
4. When something goes wrong, my team looks at what happened. We do not look for someone to blame.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
5. When my team looks back at a piece of work, we think about what we learned. We do not think about who to blame.

New ideas

This is about new ideas. People need to feel safe to share an idea before it is finished.

1. In my team, it is OK to try something that might not work.Based on Edmondson (1999)
2. In my team, I feel safe to share a new idea, even if it is not finished yet.
3. In my team, we are happy to hear each other’s ideas. We take time to think about them.
4. When my team talks about our work, we ask: Are we sure about this? What might we have missed?
5. My team takes time to find new ways to do our work better.

Working together

This is about helping each other. For example, asking for help, or saying you do not know.

1. It is easy to ask people in my team for help.Based on Edmondson (1999)
2. No one in my team would try to spoil my work on purpose.Based on Edmondson (1999)Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
3. In my team, people value what I am good at, and I get to use it.Based on Edmondson (1999)
4. In my team, it is OK to say “I do not know”.
5. Other people in my team think the work I do is important.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
6. People in my team care more about the team doing well than about doing well just for themselves.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”

Including everyone

This is about whether everyone can be themselves. Being different should be welcome.

1. People in my team do not push anyone away because they are different.Based on Edmondson (1999)Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
2. At work, I can be myself.
3. In my team, we make sure no one is left out.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
4. In my team, we understand that people are different, and we respect that.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
5. People in my team are happy to hear ideas that are different from their own.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”

Knowing what is going on

This is about knowing what is going on. What you need to do, why decisions are made, and what matters most.

1. I know what the most important jobs are for my team, and why.
2. In my team, I know what I am supposed to do.
3. In my team, I know if I am doing what my team needs from me.
4. When my team decides something that changes things for me, I understand why.
5. In my team, people look at what we get done. They do not just look at how busy we seem.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”

Who gets heard

This is about who gets heard. Can you guess how people will react? Does what you can say change, depending on who is there? This matters most in teams with bosses and ranks.

1. When someone brings up something difficult, I can usually guess how my team will react.
2. When I say what I think in my team, it is usually worth it.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
3. In my team, it is as easy to disagree with the person in charge as with anyone else.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”
4. What I feel OK to say in my team changes, depending on who is there.Has the answer “I do not know enough to say”

Asking why

If someone says it is hard to speak up, ask why. The reason tells you what to do next. Ask: “When you do not say something in your team, why is that?” These are the answers people can choose.

• I do not know how people will react. Help by making sure people react in the same way each time.

• I know how people will react, and it would be bad for me. Help by changing what happens next time, so everyone can see.

• It would not change anything. Help by showing what happened after someone spoke up, even when the answer was no.

• It depends on who is there. Help by looking at who can say what, and to whom.

• I am not sure. It is just a feeling. This is a real answer. The team may need to talk about it first.

When the answers are good, ask: “What helps you do this in your team?” Then the team knows what to keep.

This is not a tested scale

7 of these questions are based on a research scale by Amy Edmondson (1999). We wrote the rest. We changed the words, so this is not her tested scale. Do not compare your scores with research results. If you are doing research, use her original questions. Use these questions to help one team. People also answer agree and disagree questions differently in different places. So compare your team with itself over time, not with other teams.

You can use these questions

You can use, change and share these questions for free, even for paid work. Say they come from Psych Safety, link to this page, and share any changes in the same way. This is the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. The 7 questions based on Edmondson (1999) are not ours to share. For those, name her paper.

How to name us: Easy Read psychological safety questions from the Psych Safety question bank (https://measure.psychsafety.com/easy-read.html), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Measure is made by Psych Safety. We have worked with teams for over 10 years, in tech, healthcare, aviation, heavy industry and finance. Who made this.

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