Does it matter if your team trust one another? You bet it does! Studies consistently show a strong correlation between trust and performance in teams. Teams who trust one another have deeper discussion, greater team cohesion and research shows that highly cohesive teams are more successful. Perhaps not surprisingly, research also shows that trust is even more important when the task the team is working on requires them to work closely together.
Recognition has been shown to have the largest effect on trust: a simple “well done” to a colleague, as close as possible to the event you are saying well done for, is highly effective. Understanding, and believing in, the skills and capabilities of your fellow team members helps too, as does alignment behind a common team goal and purpose (but only when the team believe both are achievable, which is a strong argument for co-creating those). Developing shared norms and ways of behaving, sharing personal values, opinions, and feelings with colleagues, being open and vulnerable, asking for the help and contribution of others, and engaging in that help, all increase trust – this tends to be a re-enforcing cycle: the more colleagues trust one another, the more they feel able to be open and vulnerable; the more open and vulnerable team members are, the more trust builds. A Google study found that their managers who “express interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being” outperform others in the quality and quantity of their work. Open communication and sharing of information is another re-enforcing cycle that builds trust. Feeling heard works too – so working on the listening skills of the team, giving everyone the opportunity and space to say their piece, builds trust as can simply spending time with each fellow team members away from the work environment.
Trust is equally important in driving the effectiveness of a team that comes together for a short period of time, for example a project team, as a team that works together on an on-going basis. The challenge of establishing trust is greater in those short-term teams as building trust generally takes time. However, there are lots of examples where this can be achieved, and where high performance is essential: in the emergency departments of hospitals, for example, the cockpit of an airplane or a US Navy SEAL team. There’s no reason why this can’t work in business too.
And trust builds performance in the wider environment: companies that report high levels of trust (compared to companies where trust is low) also report 50% higher productivity, 106% more energy at work, 40% less burnout, 74% less stress, 13% fewer sick days and 29% more satisfaction with their lives.
Trust is hard earned, but easily lost. But building trust matters in so many ways.
