Right off the bat, would you say that your team trusts each other? Which leads me to ask “What is trust in teams?”
Would you say that trust is when there are conflicts and difficult discussions or rather when everything is calm?
In fact, teams that truly trust each other are capable of having constructive conflicts and difficult discussions IN GROUPS.
Trusting yourself means being vulnerable in front of others.
Here are the factors of trust in teams. Take the opportunity to evaluate yours!
Teams without a climate of total trust
Not knowing where to go, having no one to guide us, feeling alone as a team.
If team members can’t share their past experiences and current ideas, they won’t trust each other enough to honestly discuss the team’s future goals.
In today’s world, your only competitive advantage is your team.
How well do your team members…
In all objectivity, indicate at what intensity out of 10 (10 = the sentence is true 100% of the time).
- hide their weaknesses and mistakes from each other; ____/10
If they are not hidden, do you notice that the team is sharing openly as a group?
- Are reluctant to ask for help or provide constructive feedback. ____/10
Do your team members wait “too long” before asking for help?
- Are reluctant to offer help outside of their own areas of expertise. ____/10
Do you note constructive and open exchanges on each other’s problems, or are your meetings more of a status of what is happening without real exchanges?
- draw conclusions about the intentions and abilities of others without attempting to clarify them; ____/10
Do you hear judgments from one another? Or do you feel them? Are there any things left unsaid?
- do not recognize or build on each other’s skills and experiences; ____/10
You hired on the basis of experience, but for “later” / “when we get there”. Are you really listening to ideas and considering the overall skills of your team members? Do they share them?
- hold grudges; ____/10
Do the members of the team hold grudges, unspoken words? Do they accept each other?
- dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together. ____/10
What is the atmosphere of your meetings? Serious? Heavy? Happy? Flat?
Let’s take it from the other side… Teams that trust each other
Teams that trust each other show mutual support.
In all objectivity, indicate at what intensity out of 10 (10 = the sentence is true 100% of the time).
- admit weaknesses and mistakes; ____/10
- ask for help; ____/10
- Accept questions and comments about their areas of expertise with openness ____/10
- give the benefit of the doubt before reaching a negative conclusion; ____/10
- take the risk of offering feedback and assistance; ____/10
- Appreciate and build on each other’s skills and experiences; ____/10
- focus their time and energy on important issues, not on politics; ____/10
- offer and accept apologies without hesitation; ____/10
- welcome meetings and other opportunities to work in groups. ____/10
To go further
If you did the exercise for your vertical team (your management, your department, your business team), do it for your horizontal team.
Which team is the most trusted?
Your flat team
As a manager, this team must be your first team, the essential team, which will create fluidity throughout the organization as well as for your “vertical” team. When I tell managers that their first team is the one of their bets, some of them get angry. I invite you to take a step back and think about it. Tired of silos? Well… how to put it… Be a “flat” team!
Don’t have a “flat” team?
It’s time for you to create it. If you are the manager or if you are a solopreneur, you can put together your team of members of your network, coach, mentor, partner.
What can you do to increase your team’s confidence?
Start with yourself.
- Demonstrate your vulnerability, that you can make mistakes, that you don’t know everything.
For example, if you reacted badly in a situation, just say so. We’re not talking about over-justifying ourselves or falling into the melodramatic! All I say is to say things. To be authentic. It will do you a world of good! Imagine the pressure of the unsaid disappearing!
- Accept and answer difficult questions.
Are you being asked about a decision that was not unanimous? Answer honestly! And if you were wrong, simply admit it.
If you need to explain a situation, go back to the communication funnel: give just enough context for the other person to understand, adjust your vocabulary, and validate the understanding.
- Accept the vulnerability and mistakes of others.
If you feel uncomfortable with other people’s vulnerability, or mistakes, rather than laughing, or making a joke, or saying something, force yourself to listen. Don’t say anything, just listen. And rather than giving advice or saying what to do, ask open-ended questions so that the other person opens up, takes responsibility and perhaps finds their own solutions.
- Getting to know yourself better.
For the leader, knowing himself better will allow him to better understand how he works, his interests, his strengths, his blind spots. By accepting himself more, he will more easily accept others in their differences.
- Do activities as a team
To create relationships and trust, you have to see each other! Creating trust is not related to the budget! Things as simple as eating together, stretching out the management meeting with a coffee or lunch can work well! If you have more budgets, you can do team-building activities and get out of your daily environment.
« If we don’t trust each other, then we’re not going to engage in an open, constructive, ideological conflict. And we will continue to preserve an artificial sense of harmony.”
-Patrick Lencioni