How to strengthen trust within & between teams
Trust within a team is the cornerstone of team performance.
Without trust, there is no safety.
Without safety, there is no innovation.
Without innovation, there is no pushing the upper limits of performance.
But how do you move the needle on trust within a team? How about between teams?
I’m going to remove some of the mystery.
Here’s what I'm covering today:
How to identify trust gaps
The role of the leader
6 conditions for trust within a team
Video summary
How To Identify Trust Gaps
There’s more mistrust within our teams than most of us realize.
And, when I use the word “team,” that might be the team you’re directly managing, it might be your peers within your management team, or it could be a cross functional project team.
Consider these questions to help you identify where you might have a gap in trust:
What’s something you do because you’re not confident someone else is able?
When do you notice you’re disappointed by work products from others?
What elements of you do you hold back sharing?
Now reflect on a team you work within:
Where do you observe tension?
What do you observe with deadlines and deliverables?
What do you notice in the ease in which folks connect and engage?
To what extent do you observe areas where slack is picked up by others?
Where you notice hesitation in delegation, concern with timelines, a desire to follow up, and labored connection and communication, trust is likely at the center of the challenge.
The Role Of The Leader
It’s on us to enable the conditions for success within our teams and organizations.
That doesn’t mean we personally solve and address everything.
We need to:
Be clear on the role we might have inadvertently played in the situation
Empower our people with the tools and mental models to restore broken trust
As a powerful place to start, ask yourself:
What role have I played in the mistrust I’m observing?
6 Conditions For Trust Within A Team
What I’m about to share comes to us from Squadify, the data-driven platform that helps teams accelerate their performance. (PS - I’m also a Certified Squadify Pro, hit reply if you’d like to explore for your team.)
Through extensive research and validation, the following 6 conditions are critical for trust within a team.
💥 Folks deliver on commitments
💥 The team is a safe space to share ideas
💥 Team interests above individual interests
💥 Team builds strong personal connections
💥 Folks look around and see the right technical skills in place
💥 Team speaks with one voice - a united front to those outside the team
Let’s look at each a bit more.
1. Deliver on Commitments
I like to think about this as Say:Do. When people say they’ll do it, does it get done? Can I hand something off and know it will be delivered?
This is a powerful starting place, particularly as you look at interteam trust. For example, you’re leading an accounting team, does your team consistently hit commitments they’ve made to other teams?
Nothing erodes trust faster than not delivering. This is an easy place to start for improving trust within a team and between teams.
2. Safe Place To Share Ideas
When people speak up, what happens? Are they met with pushback or curiosity? Is there encouragement and gratitude for speaking up, or does the conversation quickly keep chugging along as though an idea wasn’t just brought up?
A key action for leaders is leaning into inclusion cues in meetings:
Taylor, it looks like your wheels are turning, what would you add to this?
Riley, I’m guessing you have a valuable perspective, what are you thinking?
Charlie, what’s coming up for you on this topic?
And when folks raise a point, or have a counter argument, your positive reinforcement will aid in creating the conditions that will enable safety. Responding with things like:
Thank you, I appreciate your courage in asking the tough question.
Thank you, it’s a good and important question.
When you notice someone else shuts down, or dismisses an idea, in real time, jumping in and encouraging the other person to continue with their sharing.
3. Team Above Individual
Are folks looking out for themselves? Or are decisions and actions made with a team-first mentality?
It’s fair that we’re seeing a lot of individualistic behavior. Constant layoffs have folks in more of a self-preservation mode.
As the leader, consider ways to praise moments of team over individual. Consider leading brainstorming sessions with the team’s goal/perspective as the angle you’re viewing the challenge from.
4. Strong Personal Connections
Do folks enjoy one another? What’s the extent to which you and others share elements of who you are outside of work? How often do you hear laughter?
Building connections is typically the starting place when building team trust. But that’s the problem. It’s viewed as a starting place, not an evergreen activity that’s important to the health of the team and business.
As the leader, find ways to facilitate ways for people to continue to connect and form meaningful bonds, both within the team, and cross functionally.
5. Right Technical Skills
This is likely the place where managers need to be the most active.
When someone doesn’t have the chops for the job, or is under performing, the team knows. They often know it before you do.
Quickly addressing skill gaps. Giving regular action-oriented feedback. Being specific about skill development.
“But Katie, what if there’s someone on another team that we work with that can’t do their job? They don’t report to me, but their lack of ability causes my team to not trust them.”
Yes, you’re not wrong, that does happen.
And go back to this: it’s the leader’s job to create the conditions for success.
What’s the honest, caring, and candid conversation you need to have with their manager?
It’s yet another example of the importance of leaders modeling effective cross functional relationships.
6. Team Speaks With One Voice
When your team engages with others outside the team, do they present a united front?
Does the team unify behind a shared voice and message?
Unite behind a message, present a united front outside the team, and you won’t have to worry about busting trust.
Video Summary
If you’d like to hear 3 minutes of color commentary on these 6 conditions, take a listen here:
Quick video highlighting proven elements of trust within teams. Each of these are conditions leaders should be thinking about how they enable to ultimately strengthen trust within & between teams.
