Trust is a key element in both leadership effectiveness and high performing teamwork.
Here is how your team can build trust and continue to improve your performance, based on a recent article in Harvard Business Review:
1. Don’t Leave Collaboration to Chance. Once you have a project identified, take time to consider what needs to be done and the talents required by the people who will work on those tasks. Our EMBA team always had our list of Clifton StrengthsFinder talents handy when a new project came up. We would look at the project, what was required, and then check our talent list to see who was best suited to work on it.
2. Keep Colleagues in the Loop. Don’t expect the manager to update everyone. Set an expectation of transparency in which all team members go out of the way to make sure that others are updated regularly. “Knowledge is power” and it needs to be shared.
3. Share Credit! When something goes well it is important for the team leader and all team members involved share credit with anyone and everyone involved. This builds trust and creates a norm of reciprocity. Recent research suggests that when we share credit for accomplishments we are more likable, without seeming less capable.
4. Constructive Conflict. High performing teams find a way to disagree in respectful ways. The best way to discern the most effective path forward is to get a few ideas out and then look at the pros and cons of each. We need to be able to critique each idea – in a respectful way – as we choose the best option. This needs to be set as a team norm.
Employees who trust their organizations show higher engagement, creativity, and productivity. Those who do not are prone to burnout and quitting. Developing trust on your team needs to be a high priority for increased performance and enhanced Mission Impact.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Friedman, R. “How High Performing Teams Build Trust,” Harvard Business Review, online, January 10, 2024.
