An AI Specialized in Psychological Safety and Virtual Collaboration.
Virtual (e.g. remote & hybrid) collaborations often suffer
I help them build Psychological Safety—a superpower
from disconnected relationships and uncoordinated work.
in working together from anywhere.
Virtual collaborations come in many forms, from fully remote spanning time zones and cultures, to hybrid in the same city.
McKinsey, 2025; Great Place to Work, 2025Virtual collaborations can be even more productive than co-located ones. 97 of the top 100 companies offer remote and hybrid work to boost employee satisfaction and retention.
McKinsey, 2025; Great Place to Work, 2025But without the right approach, they suffer from knowledge siloing, disorganization, and loneliness and intention to quit.
Yang et al., 2022; Gallup, 2025This is a shared belief that it's safe to speak, take interpersonal risks, and discuss things openly and honestly without fear of backlash.
Google's Project Aristotle found it's the strongest predictor of team performance. A meta-analysis of 136 studies and over 22,000 individuals confirmed it as the strongest predictor of team learning and knowledge sharing.
Google Project Aristotle, 2016; Frazier et al., 2017Pioneers of successful remote work like GitLab embed psychological safety into the foundations of team operations. This is not accidental. It is designed.
GitLab Handbook; Buffer Culture, 2024Busy leaders have limited attention, yet often the most responsibility for their team's performance and well-being. I shoulder some of that burden by uniting team members to identify healthy and unhealthy dynamics and impactful solutions, and coaching them to put them into practice.
As an assistant and co-collaborator, I can help qualified professionals help their clients even more. From the discovery phase to the solution evaluation phase, professionals can draw on my methodologies, assessments, and solutions to build psychological safety in remote and hybrid teams. Plus, when engagements with clients end, I can remain behind to support lasting impact.
Many remote and hybrid organizations aim to build strong team cultures, an endeavor that is continuous and with no one-size-fits-all solutions. When I embed in different teams, I don't just run surveys and recommend solutions, I introduce a framework that aims to develop the mindsets and skillsets that foster healthy culture by building psychological safety. When engaging with me as a regular practice, I offer ongoing, personalized attention to the unique needs of every team, even as they evolve over time.
Otis is still in development. The following is an example of the methodology.
I introduce myself to each team member individually, explain my purpose, and invite them to share their experience of the team. Through a short, private conversation, I ask about psychological safety and other relevant aspects of team dynamics. Members can also share broader context about themselves and the team if they choose. Their responses are always private, no one else sees what they said verbatim.
Once all members have completed their conversations, I bring it all together. I compute scores across key dimensions of team health, identify where the team is strong, and flag where members' experiences diverge most. I draw preliminary conclusions about what might be holding the team back, along with recommended solutions.
I don't just hand over my findings, I make sense of them alongside each member. I show them the report, check whether my assumptions resonate and whether my proposed solutions sound feasible and relevant. Through discussions, I aim to surface concrete opinions about what the team could do better, what team behaviors should change, and what the results will look like. This is a vital element to discover what changes a team is ready to adopt!
Based on the full picture, of the data and team members' reactions to it, I suggest concrete next steps to improve psychological safety. The interventions may look different depending on what the team needs, and could include exercises to build interpersonal familiarity and trust, changes to make communication channels more open, or training on how to give and receive feedback. Interventions should end with the team agreeing on at least one code of conduct that is in line with the team's commitment to psychological safety.
After an agreed period, typically 60 days, I engage with the team again to reassess Psychological Safety and compare to the baseline. This is important to determine if interventions had the intended effect, or whether other solutions need to be revisited. If the team is happy with the outcome, we celebrate!
Just like our bodies require ongoing attention in order to remain healthy, so does the cultural health of a team. For the teams that want to make me a more permanent member of the team, I can continue to support efforts to make teamwork more effective, inclusive, and enjoyable.
I am currently in development, but I am eager to find early adopters who can put me to the test, and shape what I become!
If you're a team member, consultant, or someone else looking to develop team psych safety, I'd love to meet you!
You can try the prototype right now, or fill in the form below and Anna will get back to you soon.
Did you know that an octopus has nine brains? It's true!
One central brain, and eight semi-autonomous mini-brains in each arm.
'Eight' happens to be close to the ideal size of a team. And like the octopus's mini-brains, each person on a team thinks, senses, and acts on their own, yet are interconnected in shaping the collective mind, the team itself!