Reliability Builds Trust

If asked, would other co-workers describe you as reliable? Reliability helps build trust and in many cases a lack of trust represents a missing link for building effective teams.

Have you ever asked a co-worker for help on an assignment and have been let down? Have you shared duties or responsibilities in a team environment where someone didn’t do their part? These circumstances or situations could lead to a lack of trust in the future. 

In team environments everyone must be committed to doing their part, more importantly the team as a whole needs to be committed to managing the unexpected. Simply put - teams who are better prepared to manage the unexpected will be more effective and productive than those who are not. Here are a few tips for managing the unexpected:

• build contingency time into projects or tasks
• avoid procrastination, get started early
• prioritize and avoid perfectionism when appropriate

As teams develop and evolve remember that not all members will contribute in the same manner, quantity, or quality. Being reliable to your team will make you a valued member. Reliability in turn builds trust – teams that have more trust in each other will produce better results.

Are you reliable? Can I trust your answer?

 

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Trust Matters

Many organizations suffer from trust issues. Trust requires time and effort to ensure its presence. While levels of trust vary from individual to individual trust in the workplace is often hard to obtain. Occasionally workplace teams express high levels of trust, but when asked individually about their levels of trust they are typically reporting less trust than they expressed in the group setting. Workplace trust is a big issue. Many organizations also report difficulties with communication efforts and often the root cause is mistrust among individuals and teams.

Consider the “3 C’s” of trust, they are: Credibility, Consistency, and managed Communications. If you are credible, consistent in your actions, and manage your communication effectively you are probably considered a trustworthy person in your workplace. Remember that trust takes time, make every effort to avoid careless, thoughtless, or misinterpreted acts and pay close attention to the “3 C’s.” If you get this part correct, you will make a big difference with your team – trust me.

Every Dog

In nearly every leadership workshop I deliver the discussion of integrity and honesty comes to the surface. At some point in their life many employees have had an experience of integrity and honesty violations. This sometimes stems from personal experiences off the job, or actual workplace scenarios that leave team members feeling undervalued, misused, and disregarded. This creates a very big problem with trust in the workplace and ultimately causes communication breakdown.

While we cannot necessarily control what others do, we can choose our own attitude. Attitudes are contagious and if we seek the positive in people and workplace teams we can help to make a good attitude a viral experience. By taking what we sometimes call the “high road approach” we can continue to give our best effort in even the most difficult situations. There is an age old idiom, “every dog has its day.” Stay true to yourself and reflect a positive attitude, you will make a difference in your organization.

Communication and Trust

Often businesses report that they have a problem with communication. They strive to understand why their employees do not communicate effectively. Pondering the situation they believe employees simply do not wish to communicate effectively or perhaps the employees do not understand the importance of information transfer. In many of the cases employees lack trust in their peers or worse yet in their superiors. Effective communication requires trust and a balanced flow of upward and downward communication. How is the communication climate in your workplace? Do the employees trust each other?