Any research on the web around teams reveals the issue of trust is always in the top 5 problems cited in teams. Often it is the number one issue.
Google’s Aristotle Project found that psychological safety was what mattered the most in how the team worked together. The Centre for Creative leadership believes that trust is critical to team and organisational success.
Despite this and other research, little attention is given to it by leaders and managers. Yet it is the foundation of any team, performance and culture. No matter the skills of the team, the brilliance of the strategy, the ability of the leader or the investment made in the team. If trust isn’t present, the team won’t ‘become’, and a high performing team will be an unquenched dream. Never realised.
Most leadership and management development gives only fleeting attention to the place of trust and the leader’s role in building in.
Finally, without trust you don’t have a team, it’s that simple. All you have is a group of people working together, delivering only adequate outputs, with team potentials never being achieved.
Recognising if trust is present in your team
Better-teams.com cite notable indicators that can demonstrate if strong degrees of trust exist in your team:
- Everyone openly engages in your meetings.
- Team members respectfully disagree and challenge each other.
- The team is comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas that are different from the leader.
- The team laughs often and enjoys each other.
- Team members have vulnerable moments – exposing mistakes or weaknesses.
- Members asking for help when they are stuck or overwhelmed.
- Team members speak positively about each other.
- They genuinely celebrate each other’s efforts and successes.
- They share personal information with each other.
Consequences of no team trust
There are many consequences of absent or reducing trustworthiness in the team. They also serve as good indicators of the state of it in your teams.
- Little sharing of (key) information and collaboration between team members.
- Frequent unhealthy team conflict.
- Overt or hidden comments, judgements and sniping about other team members.
- Reduced team engagement scores.
- Reduced energy in the team and team morale.
- Increased communication by email rather than verbally.
- Reduced innovation, creativity and continual improvement.
- Fault finding, self-protection and blame with little individual accountability.
- Lack of goodwill in the team.
- Poor perceptions of the team by key stakeholders.
- History of high employee turnover in the team.
- Frequent employee sickness and stress.
- Increased stepping in, involvement and resolving required by the team leader.
Having just a couple of these present in teams will directly affect team performance. Lack of trust is pervasive.
Why is it so important in teams?
Teams consist of human beings, not just ‘employees’. All human relationships and interactions are based upon trust. People and trust work at an emotional level. It is a fundamental need we have as humans – in families, with our friends, in our relationships, in our coaching and in who we choose to follow as leaders.Â
It brings safety to team members. If people in a team feel safe they can begin to stop looking at self and focus on those team members around them. Safety enables them to be more open, take reasonable risks, be themselves. Trust allows people to be vulnerable in front of others. So much of performance and outcomes depend upon inter and intra-team working, relationships and trust. Where there is trust there is receptiveness to feedback and adult to adult communication and engagement.
When trust is present people stop looking inward and focus outward. It allows for questioning, wider thinking and exploration. If there is more questioning and exploring there is better decision making. The presence of it creates freedom and openness in employees, which is translated into work.
Additionally, the achievement of organisational goals requires co-operation between teams and employees. Teams and performance depend on mutual human relationships to enable and sustain co-operative behaviours.
Models and information around trust
Awareness of different thoughts about trust will provide valuable insight and provide stepping stones to increasing it within team members.
- Whilst Charles H Greens Trust Equation is quite simplistic in nature, it combines some of the components referenced in other models.
- Patrick Lencioni’s powerful model around dysfunctions of a team stems from lack of trust. Without it, there is little opportunity for healthy conflict to occur. Without the opportunity to debate work areas people won’t fully commit. Lack of commitment leads to little or no accountability. This, in turn, leads to people looking out for their own interests, rather than team results…
- Maslow’s well-known motivational theory has the need for trust implied throughout it. Trust is a human need that has to be met.
- Stephen M R Covey devoted a whole book to on the topic of trust – ‘The Speed of Trust’.
- Brene Brown created a powerful model around it, which holds a mirror up to individuals in a team and what is needed for it to develop.
Don’t take it for granted
Trust underpins all performance. It is a non-negotiable element for teams to exist.
However, within teams, trust is often implied, expected or suggested it needs to be earned. However, it doesn’t work like this. Trust in teams requires conscious and deliberate effort by the many, not the few. It’s not just the leader’s responsibility. It requires a genuine willingness by all parties. All have to see the value of it for their team. All have to understand what trust is, how it works and see how the lack of it is affecting them, the team and relationships. There has to be a commitment to developing mutual trust.
Nick Howell is a trainer and coach working with teams and leaders to help them to achieve the culture and performance they seek and deserve. Using development, facilitation and coaching to bring about personal and team growth and change. Want to discuss things that are happening in your team? Drop Nick an email and have an exploratory call with him.