Psychological Safety in WFM: Why It Matters and How to Build It

Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as the shared belief that a team or workplace is safe for taking interpersonal risks, speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or admitting mistakes, without fear of punishment, humiliation, or negative consequences.

It’s this definition that I’ve been chewing on for months now. Trying to understand how I can use it within my own teams, but also how to encourage others to build it in their own environments.

And of course, when I think about ideas, questions, or admitting mistakes, my mind immediately goes to WFM. That’s where I’ve spent my career.

I can remember a time when asking questions was discouraged. I saw the frustration in leadership’s body language when I poked and prodded with curiosity. I’ve had moments where my questions were met with condescending answers and left me embarrassed in front of peers.

It’s probably because of those experiences that I’ve worked so hard to create psychological safety for my own teams, even before I had the language to define it.

Why Psychological Safety Matters in WFM

Many WFM teams are focused on the tactical execution of their work. They’re in the thick of real-time firefighting, they’re buried in “what if” forecasting scenarios and they’re rewarded for executing quickly and staying in their lane.

That isn’t a flaw in them. It’s the nature of the job. But when WFM is only tactical, we shortchange the impact the function can have on the organization.

The truth is WFM can be a strategic partner. But it starts with our ability to ask questions. And as I’ve experienced firsthand, asking questions comes with risk if psychological safety is missing.

Psychological safety isn’t about comfort or avoiding accountability. Too often, people hear the term and think it means no one gets in trouble, everyone does whatever they want and performance standards disappear.

It’s the exact opposite. Psychological safety creates the space where hard and sometimes uncomfortable conversations can happen. It allows people to surface ideas or concerns that might cause tension. And that tension is exactly what organizations need for innovation.

This matters for WFM more than most functions. Technology is evolving fast, and every vendor promises optimization or automation. To separate hype from value, WFM teams need to feel safe asking tough questions, thinking critically and experimenting with new approaches. Without safety, teams stay stuck in execution mode.

Copying and pasting old ways of thinking and doing into new technology and then wondering why they aren’t seeing the positive impact promised. But with safety, WFM becomes a true partner, integrated into the business and helping move strategic initiatives forward.

Leading by Example

So, what do we do in WFM teams, where the work is technical, fast-paced and often reactive? From my perspective, it starts with leadership.

We can’t wait for permission or an example to follow from above. We have to model the behavior we want inside our own teams.

The first step is straightforward but not easy: admit mistakes openly. Ask yourself: When was the last time you told your team you got something wrong?

Leaders often believe admitting mistakes will undermine their credibility. The truth is, the opposite happens. When you show your team how to own, process and learn from mistakes, you give them permission to do the same. You also help them avoid repeating yours. Some of them may even sit in your chair one day. Why not equip them with lessons you’ve already paid for?

Rewarding Curiosity

Another step is to intentionally reward curiosity.

I get it. Much of WFM feels like it’s on fire. The temptation is to treat questions as delays or distractions from taking action. But if we don’t actively reward curiosity, we send a clear message: curiosity is simply a company value on the wall, not a practice.

Rewarding curiosity can look like setting the expectation that everyone brings at least one meaningful question to weekly one-on-ones. It could mean celebrating “the best question of the month” just as much as the top performer from the team. It doesn’t even have to lead to action. A great question that deepens understanding can be just as valuable as something that leads to significant innovation.

When we normalize curiosity, we create a culture where forecasting isn’t just about crunching numbers. It’s about asking why the numbers look the way they do. That curiosity makes our schedules more resilient and our strategies more aligned to reality.

Creating Space to Question Leadership

Finally, and maybe most importantly, leaders need to create space for their teams to question leadership, including themselves.

This is uncomfortable. The natural reaction when challenged is to say, “Well, do you have a better idea?” But that shuts the door. Not everyone is skilled at inventing, but many are skilled at discernment.

One mistake I’ve made in the past was expecting a direct report to solve a problem simply because she raised a concern. That wasn’t fair. I eventually apologized, because in that moment, I wasn’t creating a safe space for her to speak up.

Concerns don’t always come packaged with solutions. Sometimes the most important contribution is raising the red flag. Psychological safety means valuing that contribution, even if the next steps aren’t clear yet.

The Payoff for WFM Teams

This isn’t theory. It has operational impact.

When psychological safety exists in WFM teams:

• Forecasts improve, because people feel safe raising the oddities and outliers others might overlook.
• Scheduling gets stronger, because agents are able to share what’s working and what’s not.
• Partnerships with operations deepen, because WFM isn’t just policing adherence. It’s listening and collaborating on solutions.

I’ve seen firsthand how this can reduce absenteeism, stabilize shrinkage and improve flexibility. When people feel safe to speak up, they don’t just disengage or quietly leave. They lean in.

Looking Ahead

Without psychological safety, WFM will stay pigeonholed in tactical execution. Replaceable, reactive and boxed in.

But when we create safe spaces, we open the door for curiosity, collaboration and innovation. That’s how we take WFM from spreadsheets and firefighting to being a true strategic partner.

The future of WFM depends on it.