Trust is critical to efficient teamwork, but is difficult to build and easily destroyed. What drivers can be activated to instill and maintain a climate of trust?
01
Create a sense of closeness
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Create opportunities to emphasize commonalities, e.g. Take advantage of a team meeting to discuss shared objectives and values.
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Communicate directly and transparently, e.g. Recognize problems, be open about your doubts and feelings, etc.
02
Create a reassuring environment
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Be predictable, e.g. Keep your words and deeds consistent over time.
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Prove that you keep your commitments, e.g. Reassure people by citing past successes, show that you have a plan B in case of problems, etc.
Take action
Boost your self-confidence (5 min)
Showing that you trust yourself helps others to trust you.
These few simple exercises will help you adopt a more assured posture.
Think of a past experience when you felt strong self-confidence. Remember the emotions you felt: how did they translate physically? The mere fact of recalling them will generate similar emotions… and places you in a better condition to succeed.
Think of a person you admire for his/her self-assured posture. How would that person behave in a similar situation? How would you see that he/she feels self-confident? What could you imitate? The gesture often creates the emotion. Thus, standing straight, the upper body forward and the legs slightly apart creates a hormonal influx that leads to confidence!
Step back from a trust relationship (10 min)
Granting trust is a decision that should be thought through.
Select a person whom you feel trustworthy. You probably feel that this impression is a lasting one, that this person “globally deserves trust”. Beware of the halo effect: this relationship is satisfying and comfortable, but you should not be blinded by it.
Take a step back: What led you to trust this person? On what occasions, and in what context? How was this trust built? What difficulties did you have to overcome?
Identify the boundaries of this trust. On what topics or in which circumstances would you be less trustful towards this person? Better have a renewed trust for a good reason than a blind trust.
Select an opportunity to show your trust (15 min)
Trusting someone means taking some risk. It is thus normal that it should create some concern.
Identify a staff member who indicated that he would like you to give him more opportunities to make his mark. Choose a topic on which he seems competent. And have a go at it! E.g.: Entrust him with a critical presentation or with an important customer meeting, give him a project or management of a budget.
Create the conditions that will ease your trust: limit the risks (e.g.: set boundaries that must not be trespassed), specify the communications and monitoring rules, take the time to confer on the objectives and the options.
Throughout the mission, make a note of your trust level: At what points did you feel worried, reassured, at ease? What do you draw from that: on what topics and in which circumstances do you think you could trust this person again?
Practical Tips
> Some misconceptions about trust
Find out more
> Kindness at work (even in a crisis) !
> Create the conditions to build trust
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