We use the word trust a lot these days, but how do we know whether trust is truly present in our working lives, in our company and in the teams we work in?
Let me invite you to do a little self-assessment:
- Do you feel comfortable asking your team for help or offering to help another team member?
- Do you feel comfortable admitting you made a mistake at work?
- Do you feel comfortable talking about team dynamics at your team meetings?
- Do you feel comfortable praising your team members?
- Do you feel comfortable telling your team about your doubts?
- Do you feel comfortable sharing your inner thoughts and feelings in your team?
Or do you sometimes pretend everything is okay even though it’s really not? If you find yourself sometimes pretending, odds are that you are having trust issues in your team.
Why we need trust
You need trust to be present to offer your help, to admit you made a mistake, and to share your ideas, feedback, thoughts and feelings at meetings or when collaborating. You need trust to be present because there is an element of risk and thereby vulnerability involved in each of these actions. You risk rejection in people saying “No” or them ignoring you. You risk judgement in the form of “You can’t solve this yourself?” You risk losing face. You risk the feeling of being alone, being the only one that feels or thinks like you do.
For most people trusting, being vulnerable and taking risks are scary. But without trust, vulnerability and the willingness to be open and accepting the risk this entails, we live our working lives in and out of dysfunctional team environments. In dysfunctional teams the psychological safety seems to be linked to sticking to what we are used to, team members that only take care of themselves and teams that lack the ability to perform real team work. Dysfunctional teams create organisational silos, employee loneliness and pretended work life happiness.
For 10+ years I have worked successfully with re-establishing trust in teams, but before I tell you how, let’s have a quick look at what happens long-term, if trust is not re-established in your team.
The effects of lacking trust
Studies show that:
“Without trust, people give up on relationships and leave organizations; cynicism reigns, progress grinds to a halt, and self-interest trumps the common good.” (Ken Blanchard in Trust Inc 2014)
“Trust, transparency and honest business practices influence corporate reputation more than quality of products and services or financial performance.” (Argenti, Lytton-Hitchins and Verity, Booz & Co., Strategy & Business Issue 61, 2010)
Lack of trust drives employees away and on the other hand “trust is identified as highly correlated with fourfold returns.” (Barbara Brooks Kimmel and Charles H Green, in Trust Inc 2014 p 13)
There is simply no doubt about the lasting and extensive negative effects the lack of trust has on organisations, their results and their people. And there is no doubt of the positive effects of creating trust at work. If we consciously and consistently work with trust in teams, sick leave will drop, we will experience less stress, better engagement, better team results, more sustainability and better retention. This is the business case on why to work with trust in your team!
Is trust taken for granted?
Many companies have trust as a value, and want trust to live on all levels in their organization, which is great. The problems emerge when top management doesn’t show vulnerability or doesn’t notice that their communication and actions have left their employees with anxiety, negative images of the future, and violated trust… then ‘trust’ simply becomes empty words on a piece of paper, more likely to demotivate employees than inspire them.
Trust is crucial and at the same time so very delicate. It can be violated easily. That is also why it is so important to put an effort into examining how trust lives in the organization and in the various teams. People, who get their trust violated tend to withdraw silently and feel drained, some feel sick, some look for another job, some lose their focus on the tasks and some find others who also got their trust violated potentially creating sub-groups that feel connected in their disconnectedness to the team.
When trust is violated the organizational health is threatened. You need to look hard to see it as the surface will look polished. People will smile and pretend while harsh dynamics rule under the surface. I have experienced these scenarios numerous times, and while the team sometimes need a person like me to help them back on track, other times all it takes in a situation where trust is violated is a curious, vulnerable and interested question like: “I feel you withdrew a bit earlier, are you ok?” or “Sorry, I lost my temper. I can tell I hurt you. That was never my intention.” to repair the violated trust.
How to re-establish trust in teams
I often get invited as facilitator when dynamics in the team or between the team and the leader need focus and repair: That is when trust is violated and the engagement survey shows it, when harsh team dynamics have taken over, when the atmosphere is tense, and misunderstandings occur and when people feel stressed and frustrated.
The leader and I align on the scope, potential interviews with employees are planned and a workshop date is settled. An important part of this “contract” is helping the leader see how he/she is crucial as a vulnerability role model.
Showing vulnerability as a leader is one of the strongest ways to create followership, reduce anxiety in the team and to boost the potential and courage of each team member. Is goes like this: “If my leader allows herself to be vulnerable, I want to follow her, help her and allow myself to show my vulnerability as my leader shows me, it is safe to do so.”
I ask for permission to do an interview with the leader as the first part of the workshop. The leader will not know all my questions in advance which allows the employees to see him/her as vulnerable in the beginning of the workshop. This can create some anxiety for the leader, but as it is also clear that showing vulnerability is crucial in creating trust, it is natural that the leader goes first. The leader trusts that the aim of my questions is to shed light on topics that the team needs answers to, for them to be willing to also share their own needs and be vulnerable. My role as facilitator here is to help the leader be transparent on matters that will be top of mind for many members in the team.
Before we begin everybody seems to hold their breath looking at each other or zooming out looking for protection from the floor or from the mobile…like they are thinking: “Please take me away from this setting….” Some smile nervously. Some talk a lot; others hide behind fun remarks: “Are we back in kindergarten sitting in a circle?… When can we play?” All in all, a mix of vulnerability, excitement, nervousness, anger, hiding behind a wall of fun remarks, or silence, hoping that today´s workshop will help, but fearing what it will take to move on as team together.
Setting the scene for change
Done correctly in a workshop setting an interview with the leader will open up for crucial conversations in the team about collaboration, thoughts, needs and desires. You will experience how the tense atmosphere loosens up and the participants becomes eager and engaged, because the interview and the workshop is all about them and what they need in order to thrive and collaborate.
The aim of a trust workshop is to build relationships in the team, to share who we are behind our roles and facades, what we need and long for from each other to really want to form a team and to create important results together. At first it seems different and as such maybe a little scary, but within minutes of working with vulnerability the tense atmosphere lightens and the effects of the work are indisputable.
The team shows each other that they listen, they care, they show curiosity, courage, interest, vulnerability and they build trust as they confirm to each other, both that they are strong together, and that each of them are important to the team and the results and that everyone in the team are not only filling roles but are also people with feelings, desires and hopes.
When trust is present in the team it is time for feedback and personal commitment to ensure the understanding of why change is important, what each person will get out of the change and what each team member therefor commits to for the team to become successful together.
Over the course of the hours of the trust workshop the team members go through a vast array of feelings. Starting with apprehension, discomfort, and vulnerability leading to interest, curiosity and openness and finally excitement, hope and trust.
Never underestimate the need for trust in your team.
Whichever issues you might experience in your team, first ask yourself: “Are we talking openly and honestly about any issues in our team?” If not, you most likely need to re-establish trust, before you can get back on track.
True change starts when trust rules!
Take care, stay healthy, be curious and vulnerable.
Sofie