In the past few months, I’ve been running a number of coaching sessions designed to improve team performance. I’ve drawn inspiration from the work of Patrick Lencioni and his classic book ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’. As he says, an ‘Absence of Trust’ is the foundation of all dysfunctional teams. Fix this, and you’ve got a solid foundation. So I thought I’d explore this topic in a bit more detail.
Firstly, let me define what trust is all about in the context of a team. It’s about having confidence in the intentions of your team members. That they’re positive and constructive. It’s about being open and vulnerable in your interactions with them. It’s a belief in the competence of your team members. A belief they will be able to deliver the team’s goals.
So how do you build trust in a team? Here are some thoughts.
1 Get To Know Them Well
Everyone’s different. Each team member has their own quirks and foibles. Understanding what makes each individual tick helps you interpret their actions and motivations. Therefore spend time together. This includes social time. Get to know them as real people. Listen to them. It helps if you like your teammates, but you don’t have to be best buddies. At a minimum, show you know where they’re coming from and that you understand them.
2 Highlight Everyone’s Strengths
By getting to know people well, you'll learn and appreciate what their strengths are. Make sure you play to them. Give each team member the opportunity to perform at their best. To show what they’re good at. If there are any skills gaps, acknowledge them. It may be they need further training or development. Equally, you may decide to allocate this task to someone else.
3 Deliver On Your Promises
To gain trust, you need to prove your reliability. Respect deadlines. Turn up on time. Deliver when you say you will. At the same time, maintain a consistent standard of quality. Do this all the time and your team will gain a reputation for reliability. Once team members start to slide on this, doubt will creep in and trust will erode.
4 Give and Take Feedback
If people aren't delivering on their promises, let them know. Equally, praise and support people for their great behaviour. Open, candid and clear feedback is essential for success and growth. Give feedback freely. Equally, ask and respond to it.
5 Delegate
Trusting teams have clear roles and responsibilities. Everyone knows their jobs and ownership is clear. By delegating as much as possible, you’re signalling that you respect them and trust that person to do a great job. Give people as much responsibility as they can handle.
6 Go To Battle Together
Trust is built and earned in the heat of battle. It could be during a pitch meeting or when you're facing a tough deadline. Look for situations where you can demonstrate trust and throw yourselves into them. Once you've been overcome a challenging situation, trust will be deeper and stronger.
7 Respect Confidentiality
Within any team, sensitive information is shared. This could be financial, about competitors, about future plans. Demonstrating that you can be given confidential information without the risk of it being shared externally is a sign of being part of a trusting team. Never breach this.
8 Forgive and Move On
Trusting teams don’t hold grudges. They accept that mistakes are made and that people aren’t perfect. If individuals make mistakes and apologise sincerely, then the matter is closed and the team moves forward. Equally, if you’ve said or done something that could be damaging to the team, it’s up to you to acknowledge it and avoid repeating it.
In summary
It's worth remembering that trust is earned and not given. It takes time to build and develop. Don’t expect overnight success when teams get together. But without a foundation of trust, a team won’t thrive. Once this is in place, the team can grow and develop.