Trust: Defined
Within a team, trust is characterised by a mutual understanding and knowledge of each member’s skills and abilities. Crucially, that involves knowing what other team members can and cannot do. For that reason, it is a purely neutral concept that can be earned through shared experiences among team members. Over time, a person’s belief and trust in another team member’s abilities can change and evolve, based on new evidence and behaviour.
Why instilling trust is vital between team members
Trust is essential to any high performing team. Patrick Lencioni’s seminal work “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” places trust at the foundation of a functional team for good reason. Many of the most serious challenges to an effective team functioning optimally derive from its absence.
But the formation of trust is a complex and gradual process, established through ongoing interactions. By its very nature, it is something to be granted rather than made during those interactions. Individuals cannot insist someone trusts them. However, individuals can establish the conditions, which make them more trustworthy.
The same is true within teams. Instilling trust within a new team demands proactive encouragement. Largely based on exchanges between team members, over time it evolves and develops. It is galvanised by shared experiences, wins and losses. Teams are rarely static and the high performing team is critically aware of the varying capital within the group as members change, relational bonds tear and repair, and reputations are built.
Trust as an enabler
Effectiveness of action is critical to high performance and trust is crucial to enable this.
When strong trust exists within a team, the division of labour can be clearer because there is confidence in the reliability of others to perform their roles. When we trust fellow team members implicitly, it allows us to focus on our own activity without double guessing and inefficiency. It means we don’t have to seek assurance, as we simply know and trust how another team member will perform.
It is vital, though, to dispel misconceptions about instilling trust. It should not be mistaken for blind faith. It must be justifiable either to demand it or extend it. Trust must be given and earned appropriately, but it must also be given genuinely and sincerely.
