What Happens to Psychological Safety When Going Remote?

Abstract

Psychological safety is a precondition for learning and success in software teams. But what happens to psychological safety when work becomes remote? In this article, we explore how Norwegian software developers experienced remote work under the pandemic and after restrictions were waved and describe simple behaviors and attitudes related to psychological safety. We pay special attention to work arrangements in which team members alternate days in the office with days working remotely. Our key takeaway is that psychological safety is enabled by spontaneous interaction, which is easy to facilitate in the office and hard to facilitate remotely. Our findings lead us to recommend that team members align their work modes to increase chances for spontaneous interaction in the office while benefiting from the increased focus associated with working remotely.