Building and Maintaining Trust

According to Stephen M. R. Covey, in The Speed of Trust, only 51% of employees have trust and confidence in senior management and only 36% of employees believe their leaders act with honesty and integrity. John Whitney, of the Columbia Business School states that mistrust doubles the cost of doing business.

What is trust?

Here are some definitions:

Trust is reliance on the integrity, strength, ability of a person or thing
Trust is confident expectation of something
Trust is confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods
Trustworthy is a person on whom or a thing on which one relies
Trust is the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted

Trust is built in very small actions or moments.

It is not something that once established can then be ignored. It needs to be developed and nurtured on an ongoing basis.

Once lost, trust is not easily regained, but it isn't hard to maintain; it requires clear, continuous, open communication.

How to build trust

Be reliable

Do what you say you will

Honour all of your promises, including the small ones

Be honest

Tell the truth
If you have lied or misled, admit to it
Speak from the heart and express your feelings

Be open

Volunteer information
Don't omit important details
If there are boundaries of confidentiality/trust, state them
Don't mask truths or attempt to cover up situations
Demonstrate that you expect reciprocal openness

Keep confidences

Keep secrets imparted to you – no gossip

Show your integrity

Display loyalty
Be competent and consistent
Demonstrate a strong moral ethic
Do not choose sides until you are certain that you know the facts
Aim to be objective and show fairness

Leadership

If you are in a position of leading others, realise that the leader accepts blame on behalf of the team and does not attempt to shift it onto other people. A leader is the role model and demonstrates the behaviours that he or she expects in others.

Practical steps towards building trust in a project team

Include representatives from all sides at the planning stage
Create a shared vision of what success will look like
Conduct a pre-mortem, bringing the stakeholders together and identifying what could go wrong
Develop strategies to avoid, mitigate or overcome potential problems
Agree – and practise – a “no surprises” rule
Agree – and practise – a “no blame” rule
Under promise and over deliver
Accept and expect accountability
Take responsibility for communication
Communicate without ceasing
Call time-outs and hold debriefs
What is happening/happened?
What is working/worked?
What isn’t working/didn’t work?
What can we learn?
Recognise and celebrate heroes and wins

Exercise

Answer these questions:

Find recurring issues that repeatedly interfere with the performance of the team.

Write down rules that will support optimal behaviour and performance.