The Art of Facilitation: Building Trust and Psychological Safety in Design Teams

Abstract Engineering design often relies on teams to maximize creativity and problem-solving potential, yet complex social dynamics often limit team effectiveness. Prior work has recognized the importance of trustworthy facilitators and a favorable team climate, but little research has examined the specific behaviors facilitators use to achieve these outcomes. Leveraging data from a Design Thinking workshop, our exploratory in situ study investigated facilitators' behaviors and their impact on team dynamics. We developed first-order Markov models to investigate conversational patterns between facilitators and team members. Similarities across models revealed interaction patterns despite group differences. High transition probabilities between facilitators' engagement in the design task and both team engagement and support suggest that facilitator involvement fosters a collaborative atmosphere. The transition from facilitator clarifications to team questions underscores their role in promoting shared understanding. To assess the relationship between facilitators' behaviors and team members' perceptions of facilitator trustworthiness and team psychological safety, we analyzed correlations between these factors. Facilitators who more frequently built rapport, prompted reflection, and engaged in the design task were perceived as more trustworthy, whereas more frequent questioning signaled lower confidence and reduced perceived expertise. Psychological safety also appeared to benefit when facilitators worked collaboratively alongside teams. These findings offer insight into the behavioral mechanisms that support effective facilitation and identify behaviors that meaningfully shape perceptions of trustworthiness, team climate, and conversational dynamics in design teams.