Psychological Safety in the Remote Workplace : How Digital Communication Systems and Remote Work Shape Experiences of Psychological Safety

Sammanfattning

This study explores how remote workers experience psychological safety, and how their experience is shaped by remote work and digital communication systems. Experiencing psychological safety is a key enabler of many positive behaviours linked to communication, trust, learning, and the ability to take interpersonal risks at work. However, much existing research has focused on psychological safety in co-located environments, where the conditions for interaction, relationship-building, and communication differ significantly from those in remote work. To fill this gap, this study uses a qualitative research strategy based on semi-structured interviews with eight participants who work fully remotely to understand how they experience psychological safety, and what shapes their experiences. The empirical material was analysed through an abductive thematic approach, which was guided by the three aspects of psychological safety (i.e. open communication, freedom to fail, and trust & respect). The findings from the abductive thematic analysis show that psychological safety was generally present among the participants, but that it was created, maintained, and expressed in different ways than in co-located work. Remote work was shown to reduce spontaneous interaction, informal conversations, and immediate support from colleagues, which made communication more dependent on deliberate initiation and increased the threshold for communication. At the same time, remote work also supported autonomy, flexibility, and independence, which are more typically positive experiences. As for digital communication systems, they shaped psychological safety by influencing how participants asked questions, received acknowledgement, interpreted feedback, and trusted colleagues. All in all, the study concludes that psychological safety can exist in remote work, but that it is often expressed and perceived through structured digital communication, professional trust built on reliability, visible acknowledgement, and the ability to manage uncertainty through digital systems.