Speaking up at work

The Psychological Safety Activity Book

Coloring Scenes and Worksheets for Teams Where People Speak Up

By Jon Orozco

Practice inviting concerns, responding thoughtfully to bad news, and following up so people can see what happened next.

In development

This title is being developed. The sample below introduces the current manuscript; release details may change.

Try a sample situation

Who this is for

Managers and team leads who want people to raise problems early.

The team stays quiet in meetings. Problems surface later, and you need to understand what makes speaking up difficult.

The current manuscript includes 20 practice situations, reflective coloring plates, and 16 practical tools.

Why this book exists

Your response to a concern helps shape whether people raise the next one. This activity book gives you practice in listening, reacting, and following through in difficult team moments.

What you’ll practice

01The Quiet Room
Silence is not the absence of problems. It is the absence of reporting. This part teaches you to read what a quiet team is really telling you.
02Four Doors
Safety is built in four layers: belonging, learning, contributing, and challenging. The four doors follow Timothy R. Clark's four stages of psychological safety. A team can have one door open and the next one stuck.
03Your Reaction Is the Message
People do not learn your values from a poster. They learn them from your first five seconds after bad news. This part trains that reaction.
04Hard Moments, Real Rooms
The same pattern shows up on plant floors, in project teams, and in offices. One reaction makes speaking too expensive. These moments practice the fix.

Try a sample situation from the book

Any questions? No? Good.

You finish explaining the new process. You look around the table and ask, "Any questions?" Nobody speaks, and you feel great. Two weeks later the process is being done three different ways.

Rewrite each closing line so it invites a real answer.

Any questions? No? Good, let's move on.
Is everyone on board? Great.
Does that make sense to everyone?

Make your call, then read the field note

Zero questions often means fear, not clarity. Ask a question that assumes there are answers. "Which part will be hardest to do?" works far better than "Any questions?"

Try this next: End your next meeting with "What is still fuzzy?" Then wait ten full seconds.

Practice with fictional details. This excerpt offers general education, not legal, financial, or clinical advice. Use approved workplace processes and qualified support for real cases.

Tools you can return to

Your 90-day plan
The first five seconds checklist
The team safety score sheet
Where the truth dies
Quiet or scared?
Receive a hard truth
Quiet-room bingo
Twelve weeks of better habits
The five reporting signals
The four doors check
Voices I have not heard
The open-door one-on-one
Build the lowest door
When someone raises a concern
Concerns I can still catch early
Safer or quieter? The day 30 check

Put the practice to work

Choose one situation that resembles the work you face. Make your call, compare it with the worked example, and identify what you would change. Take one useful move into your next assignment, conversation, or team discussion.

Discuss a team learning session →

A book supports practice. For an active workplace issue, follow your organization’s process and seek appropriate professional guidance.

Keep exploring

Write It Down

Turn vague employee notes into factual records with context, the employee’s account, and a clear follow-up.

Solo HR

Move competing requests out of your head and into a visible case queue with priorities, owners, and next steps.

Promoted Over Your Peers

Move from coworker to supervisor with clear boundaries, consistent work decisions, and conversations you have practiced.