Trust and Teamwork

Great teams understand that level of connection determines level of commitment. They actively care and listen. They respectfully address issues. They talk to each other, not about each other. They tap into each other’s experience and expertise. They make trust a priority.

A team without trust isn’t really a team: it’s just a group of individuals trying to work together and struggling to make progress. They hesitate to share information, battle over roles and responsibilities, and resist cooperating with one another. It doesn’t matter how capable or talented the people on the team are; they will not reach their full potential if trust isn’t present.

• High trust is a performance accelerator. Low trust hinders performance. Without trust, high performance teamwork is not possible.
  
  
• Mutual accountability is essential for effective teamwork, and without trust, accountability is not possible.

• Trust is what makes teamwork work. Teamwork, by definition, implies interdependence and team members that have confidence in each other. Trust does not just happen; it must be built and sustained. In all teams, trust will be built and it will be broken. It is simply the reality of human relationships. Trust is particularly vulnerable during periods of rapid growth or change, and when the team is virtual.

• Trust motivates open and candid communication. It creates a culture where it is safe to tell the truth, explore ideas, and find solutions. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to work in an environment of mistrust, in which ideas are usurped, credit is stolen, and team members talk about each other in negative ways. On the other hand, when team members feel confident that others value their input, support their ideas and willingly share credit, trust grows.

• Be a person others can trust. What you do affects others. Recognize the impact of your attitude and behavior on the team and its performance.

• Extend trust to others.

• Trust is slowly built but quickly broken.  Building trust takes time and requires some degree of risk. 

• Constructive conflict is a natural and necessary part of building trust and teamwork. Avoiding difficult conversations undermines trust and teamwork.

No matter how smart, talented, or passionate the people in a business, success depends on the ability to build a culture of teamwork. And great teams are built on the foundation of trust. Trust is a force multiplier.