Designing a Knowledge-Driven Team Development Framework Based on the Psychological Safety Capability Maturity Model

This study developed the Psychological Safety Capability Maturity Model (PS-CMM) as a knowledge-driven team development framework. PS-CMM standardizes efforts to improve psychological safety, which tend to become dependent on individual initiatives, by positioning them as team-based practices. It is structured so that teams can take a multifaceted approach to promote psychological safety. After applying the PS-CMM for four weeks to Japanese student sports teams—one type of team characterized by strong top-down decision-making and difficulties in knowledge management—psychological safety related to mental health showed a statistically significant improvement (p < .001). Qualitative analysis further indicated that team psychological safety improved and that members experienced reduced psychological barriers to communicating with coaches and core members. These findings contribute to the development of evidence-based intervention methods for improving psychological safety and propose a knowledge-driven team development framework that standardizes individual-dependent initiatives, thereby advancing knowledge management.