Solutions Business Development - Building Trust In A Team

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Overview
Do I Trust My Team? - Worksheet
The Cycle and Milestones for Developing Trust
Measures and Actions for Developing Trust - Worksheet

Even though trust is perceived to be an important component of team building, many team leaders report that while they believe they are trustworthy their staff still seems reluctant to trust them.

Trust in the work situation would seem to be a very clear and easily defined commodity.

If we trust somebody at work it means we have faith in them, and that we believe they will do what they say they will. Trust, indeed a working trust, means that a team member can be left to complete tasks without excessive monitoring, and that the behaviour of that person will be within the expected range and comply with accepted theories and written and unwritten codes of behaviour that govern the workplace.

Trust makes everyone's job easier and creates the environment for effective and satisfying working relationships.

However, if trust is clearly so important why is it that most team leaders report they may trust individuals in the workplace but rarely the workplace as a whole?

Team leaders claim that the trust they have in their team is often conditional and that often trust breaks down and results in difficult situations and outcomes. Achieving and maintaining trust between a team leader and the team, and between individuals and the organisation as a whole, is central to motivating and managing a team but trust is rarely targeted as an outcome in itself.

Yet without an evaluation of the level of trust in individuals and a plan to increase team trust, it may well not happen.

Developing and nurturing trust should be the central team management objective.

If your team members trust you then they will be much more likely to talk to you in an open way and more likely to follow, listen and respond to you. Indeed, team members will be more likely to tell you what you should hear, not what they think you want to hear.

Trust will reduce tensions and problems. Similarly, if you trust your team members to do their job, follow policies and procedures, and generally do their job well, you will be well on the way to leading a high performance team which will certainly make your job easier.

Identifying Trust

Trust is based on experience; but it is very fragile and easily destroyed. Consequently organisations and managers build protection to ensure they can trust their staff. This can take the form of monitoring, spot checks, and other checking systems. The problem is how to develop risk managing policies, processes and procedures and at the same time build trust. It is suggested that the first step is to identify what is meant by trust and what levels of trust can be achieved in your team. Then systems, actions and behaviours can be put into place to develop as much trust as possible.

Do I Trust My Team?

How do team leaders create distrust?
The enemies of trust can be both real and imaginary and a team leader can easily create distrust. Some examples of the way distrust can be created include the following:

Inconsistent messages - saying one thing and doing something directly opposite
Inconsistent standards in the way people are treated
Unclear or false feedback
Withholding information
Hidden agendas
Not showing reasonable trust in others

The diagram below shows the cycle in developing trust. Each word is milestone which must be reached before the next can be developed.

Trust – The belief in others integrity.

Developed in people by giving them independence. People need to feel comfortable enough to try.

This means setting parameters, not rules.

If harmony is to be lasting – if people are to feel fulfilled, trust must be accorded them. In other words, give people the “benefit of the doubt”; assume their intentions are good.

If people feel trusted only then can they become trustworthy. Set peoples levels of initiative based on their skills and then with in those parameters trust them.

Independence - By giving people independence of action and thought they are more likely to become self motivated. To do otherwise sends a signal that to try is dangerous. A child who constantly touches, tastes and generally experiences all that is about is developing a trust in their environment and those about them.

Obviously parameters and guidance are vital for ongoing wellbeing but stifling rules, which reduce the opportunity to experience, will reduce growth.

Motivation - Independence or empowerment of the individual fosters original thinking. People begin to express new ideas and begin to develop better processes. This motivation to not only complete a task but to improve upon it while assessing any flow on effects is critical for any organisation to win in the market place long term.

Application - To grow we need to accomplish, that is, we need to apply an idea in the real world with confidence. The resulting feeling of competency is vital if trust and motivation are to be maintained.

Through application accepted ways of doing things can be challenged with new ideas and methods the results.

A common error in developing application in people is comparing their efforts with others. Another approach would be to compare their performance against themselves.

To really hasten development, compliments for having participated or tried and reference to progress of the individual will help in increasing trust and motivation in them.

Self Respect - We are known by what we do, eg: “you know her, she’s the one .........” Each of us is acutely aware of this and therefore keen to protect our position or stake our claim within our lives and within our organisation.

Through the belief in us by others we develop belief in ourselves and become content with our identity and truly effective.

Honesty - By maintaining an open and honest dialogue others will begin to develop trust. The need to constantly read between the lines of communication creates distrust as people begin to communicate strategically and politically rather than honestly and sincerely.

This creates an environment where people will not say or do anything that might leave them vulnerable. Tell it like it is; be brave enough to allow mistakes to show while showing empathy for others efforts. Consistency in being honest and open will quickly develop trust, independence, motivation, and self-respect in your team.

Contribution - The ability to give for no other reason than we want to. Those who get things done and who give of themselves unqualified become trusted. They become respected as people with real integrity. They secure opportunities they may not have even sought.

Ultimately they get back what they invest many times over. It doesn’t happen immediately as it must be developed but that’s OK, you weren’t expecting anything anyway.

The challenge in maintaining a contribute to others philosophy is the fear of being used and exploited. This will happen however the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

We don’t have a choice anyway as all long term opportunities both personally and professionally come from the belief others have in us. This can only be developed by having contribution as major part of your life.

Integrity – The ability to consistently live within a predetermined set of values.

People and organisations with integrity have clearly defined values, which they cannot break. Integrity is about not breaking the law because it is wrong to do so as apposed to the deterrent of getting caught and penalised.

We know from our own experiences that people who act in a predictable fashion are easier to deal with. Even if their values are different from ours we relax if they act the same way consistently.

Even at the most basic level integrity plays a role. The habitual criminal who becomes well known to police can have integrity. For example the officer defends a criminal he knows well to another officer saying, ‘this guy never uses weapons’ and this offence had weapons used’. The other officer replies ‘ he could have used a weapon this time’. ‘No, he never uses weapons, I know this guy and it would be out of character for him to do this’.

In other words the officer has trust in the integrity of the suspect because he never steps outside of his values. Obviously the criminal is not ‘trust worthy’ but the officer does trust the criminal’s integrity in not using weapons.

People who are inconsistent in their behaviour are rarely trusted. It is simply too risky to trust or deal with them.

For example, if the criminal trusted to not use weapons was considered unpredictable in actions the officer defending him may well have agreed to have him as a suspect even though he might never have used a weapon in the past.

Those with integrity see worthwhile in others without judging the differences that may exist.

Trust is the reliance on another's integrity which completes the trust developmental cycle.

Actions to Build Trust
The two areas that a team leader should look at to build trust in a team are the:

Tools to do the job
Signals and behaviours of him or herself

Trust requires confidence and a minimum of problems and issues that may make a team member feel inept or incapable of doing the job. Too many problems, work frustrations and having to "make do" with inadequate information and equipment all can contribute to a lack of faith in the organisation and the team leader -regardless of the reasons for the problems. Defensive behaviour is not conducive to open relationships.

The better skilled and resourced each individual team member is the more likely they are to do their job effectively.
The clearer and simpler the policies and team code of conduct are, the more likely it is that team members will follow them. This means short, plain English and directly relevant policies regarding the rights and obligations of staff that are regularly explained and certainly always followed.

The team leader is the model for trustworthy behaviour and hence some basic principles need to be observed.

There is no such thing as a casual conversation in the sense that everything you say could get back to others. Think about the impact of what you say on others, even those who hear it second hand. Think when you comment on any member of the team to another member, and only make positive comments or none at all.
Meet the reasonable expectations of team members on how you should behave toward them and make efforts to change any unrealistic expectations about your behaviour as well as unreasonable attitudes to their work, such as "near enough is good enough ". Generally the positive expectations about your behaviour will include fairness, honesty, consistency and respect for the team members. Other expectations should be openness and clear communication highlighted by good listening techniques. “
"Don't ignore things that you know everyone is whispering about in the corridors".
Inform team members of any decision or event that will affect them as a team or individually as urgently and openly as possible.
Be prepared to say sorry.
Do not have favourites.
Try to identify how well trusted you are, review the assessments of your trust levels and act on them.
Deal with problems, misunderstandings and issues as quickly as possible.

Conclusion
Trust is the currency of effective relationships. It does not necessarily come easily. Too often a small event, such as a miscommunication, misunderstanding or misconception can break down trust. The successful team leader thinks about his or her impact on the team and how it can be improved. When trust does break down, then saying sorry and discussing how to stop the breaking down arising again will go a long way to restoring trust.