The Best Ways to Build Trust Within Your Team

Here’s the rub: Employees and teams who don’t feel as if they can trust others may bring that discomfort to everything they do on the job. They won’t take chances or go the extra mile because those actions could be criticized. They don’t cooperate with coworkers as much as they could because there might be nothing in it for them. And their lack of trust extends to how they deal with customers, which can sow seeds of mistrust between consumers and your brand, and ultimately hurt the organization.

Building trust within your team requires more than simply saying, “I trust you.” Many execs claim to trust their teams, but then continue to micromanage, refuse to offer opportunities for growth, and are critical of the tiniest missteps. True trust must be rooted in actions and accountability.

Goals you set for your employees can be tricky. Set goals too low and employees might feel you don’t trust them to develop. Set goals too high and employees could wonder why you are piling so much on them, thus leading them to at least question your judgment. The key is finding ways to challenge your colleagues without overworking them, while also listening to their concerns. Also, don’t be afraid to let your team members experiment, learn, and even fail through the entire process. This is part of their growth, and if you support that, their trust in you and each other also grows.

You want employees to deliver outstanding work and to trust you and each other. To encourage trust, you must walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Your own accountability must be strong and continuously on display. Leading by example means holding yourself to the same standards to which you hold your employees. After all, why would they want to achieve excellence if you can’t be trusted to do the same?

Another aspect of a good leader’s accountability is putting in the hard work — setting standards and expectations, bringing in the right people to get the job done (and done well), and taking responsibility for your team’s missteps as well as your own. Admit when you fail or get something wrong. Your fallibility and subsequent accountability show your team that nobody is perfect, but together, with trust, obstacles can still be overcome.

Nowadays, employees aren’t fooled by double-talk and non-answers to questions. They can likely see through deception, no matter how well-intentioned your misjudgments are or if you’ve failed to be accountable to your mistake. Misleading and misguided communication kills trust because your team may never know what you’re really thinking. Being direct is essential for effective collaboration and achieving desired results — and for building and maintaining trust.

Not surprisingly, productivity decreases when you are breathing down your team’s collective neck. You assembled, hired, trained, and guided your team; if you trust your management skills, then trust the people you manage.

Some level of gossip in the workplace is inevitable. It’s not exactly healthy, but coworkers do derive a social benefit from gossip that shares innocuous information. However, gossip between a manager and a subordinate — especially if initiated by the manager — inherently erodes trust. Think about it: If your boss discussed office politics with you or revealed personal information about a coworker, would you ever be confident he or she wouldn’t gossip about you when you aren’t in the room? You may enjoy the gossip, but ultimately, you likely would lose respect for your supervisor. Build and maintain trust — and set a good example — by not gossiping to subordinates or peers in the workplace.

Written by: Zoe Mackey

Originally published on www.ideas.bkconnection.com

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