5 Methods that Promote Team Trust

Ever wondered how trust anchors a team and fosters productivity? Let's journey together into the world of trust-building methodologies in this insightful episode. We'll explore five key behaviors that lay a solid foundation of trust within teams, promise to share glimpses from our own experiences, and offer guidance on nurturing a positive team culture where everyone feels safe, engaged, productive, and inspired to innovate.

We turn our focus onto the significance of safety in a team setup, discussing its different layers and how it contributes to a sense of trust and engagement. Expect to encounter relatable reflections on our moments of safety within a team and learn about the power of setting actionable goals. We'll discuss the tell-tale signs of eroding trust and how to counteract them. We'll also share our personal experiences with trust challenges and the strategies we employed to navigate those situations.

Lastly, we will delve into the importance of holistic acceptance of team members, exploring how it forms the bedrock of trust. We'll shed light on the role of commitment and choice in trusting others. Discover how fostering a high trust environment contributes to a high performing team and enhances the overall team culture. We'll share prompts to aid your reflection process and apply these trust-building methodologies within your own team. By the end of this podcast, you'll be equipped with a fresh understanding of trust dynamics and an improved capability to enhance collaboration, innovation, and performance within your team. So, are you ready for this trust-building expedition?

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It wouldn't take much to believe that people have been working on teams as long as companies have been in business For decades now. A tremendous amount of effort and research has been done to figure out how to create a high-performing team. There's an ongoing struggle to create a positive team, and the key to that struggle is creating a team culture of trust where people feel authentically safe, engaged, productive and innovative.

Speaker 2: 0:23

We want to challenge you to think about the five behaviors and methods that promote team trust. Before we do, we want to dip you into your lived experience and cause you to consider some of the ways and places where you've been a part of high-trusting teams, those teams where you felt safe and there was engagement and productivity and you felt creative and innovative and alive. And then, when we start to talk about the different behaviors and methods that promote team trust, we want to challenge you to think about how to participate and contribute into the components that build trust.

Speaker 1: 1:06

Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and you are listening to the Leadership Vision podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this for the past 25 years so that people are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. In today's episode, we dive into the fourth lesson in our series of lessons on trust, discussing the five behaviors and methods that promote team trust. We will draw upon experiences from various high-trust and high-capacity teams that we have worked with over the years and uncover the elements that help cultivate a team culture where individuals feel safe, engaged, productive and innovative.

Speaker 1: 1:44

We have also created a worksheet for you to integrate these trust-promoting methods into your own team dynamics, and if you want to get that worksheet, you can follow the link in the show notes. And if this is your first time joining us for these lessons on trust, make sure that you go back and check out the first three episodes, the first three lessons that sort of lead up to what you're about to hear today. Now, it's not necessary that you have listened to those before you listen to what you're about to hear, but they do provide some more context and we think it's just super helpful. You should definitely check them out via the links that are also provided in the show notes. All right, let's dive in.

Speaker 2: 2:23

We want to begin with identifying those five behaviors and methods. So we'll list those and then we're going to walk you through an exercise that will dip you back into your lived experience and we'll talk a little bit more about how you can participate and be a part of building the trust on your teams. So the first behavior and method is facilitating whole person acceptance and growth. Number two intentionally build relationships. Intentionally is the operative word there. The third one is giving individual autonomy. No one likes to be told what to do. Number four creating challenge and difficulty, and sometimes it's just being able to step into it, but sometimes conflict needs to be orchestrated. And the fifth is recognizing excellence, and that is about recognition and celebration where people feel seen, heard and valued.

Speaker 3: 3:19

We are really excited for lesson four, because this is finally the time when we really start to talk about what it takes to build a high trust team, and one of the reminders that I want to start with is I want to remind all of us that it's a fundamental psychological need for each one of us, as human beings, to be able to trust others, to be able to be trusted by others, and to have environments within which trust is actually growing and intentionally being developed, because one of the things that we often overlook is that trust is also a fundamental social need of ours.

Speaker 3: 3:53

We need it for our relationships, we need it for our interrelationships, and part of what we want to do today is yes, we want to lead you into what those five key elements are, but we first want to start with reminding each one of us that, no matter what our current professional team context is like, we probably have all had experiences where we've been a part of a team where there was a high degree of trust.

Speaker 3: 4:18

If not, we were actually on a high trust team, and so one of the things that we want to invite you to do now is to think about a time when you were on a team where trust was there. Now, what does that look like? Actually, think about a team where you were actually trusting of someone else. You were relying on them for something that you needed. There was some kind of relationship between maybe one, two or three different people and you really felt that you were known, heard, understood some other key elements to feeling trusted. And imagine a time, maybe, when a leader was actually trusting you to maybe level up to a different level of performance or entrusting you with great resource or entrusting you with a team and you kind of felt that sense of confidence and honor in being trusted by someone. So today, in this first section, think of a time when you were on a team where you felt trusted.

Speaker 2: 5:12

So what does that mean? Here's some prompts to drill your thinking a little bit. So if you have that idea or experience or that time when you felt trusted, have that, you know, write that as a title. This is when it was. This is what it looked like. Now ask yourself how did you feel safe? If you felt safe, what did that look like?

Speaker 3: 5:39

And think about this idea of safety in like different levels. So think of a team where you felt psychologically safe or where you felt like safe just to be there. It could be emotional safety, maybe it was a sense of job security and you felt safe there because you were trusted and you felt safe. So there are many layers of what it means to be safe.

Speaker 2: 5:59

So, now that you've thought about that time on a team when you felt safe, give that time a title. Maybe it was a year or a moment, a specific memory that you had, and I want you now to do some thinking around what was happening, that you even chose that particular event. One of the first things we want you to have to think about is how did you feel safe? Now, safe could be emotional safety, psychological safety, physical safety. Maybe there was just that trusting safety that you experienced. For me, when I feel safe and I think about the times when I've been on high trusting teams I think about the times where I feel safe to make a mistake or not be perfect at every single moment, but being challenged to learn from those mistakes and move on. What about you, brian? When do you feel safe?

Speaker 3: 6:57

That's a really good answer. One of the situations that comes to mind with me right away is a team that I was on where each of the team members was incredibly diverse, and when I look back at that time, I didn't realize at the time that I felt emotionally safe, and what that meant to me was I felt an incredible safety to enjoy what was happening around me. I felt the emotional safety to be challenged and to challenge. I also felt the safety that I could be frustrated and share with this team what my frustrations were, and that was OK, because they were relying on me to be fully who I was, and part of it was the expression of what I was experiencing emotionally. That's where I felt safe.

Speaker 2: 7:39

Yeah, nathan. What about you when you think of those high performing team? What does safety look like for you?

Speaker 1: 7:45

I think safety to me looks like brainstorming and ideas not get immediately shot down. So what came to mind was about I think 12 years ago I was on this team that was kind of a subgroup of where I used to work and we were planning this giant event and I just felt like every time we would meet we could just get out all the ideas and we didn't have to like jump on one and I would come up with great ideas, terrible ideas, but there was never a sense of judgment around that, and so anytime I'm a part of a group where we can actually have some good idea, exchange before move forward just always helps me feel safe and like I can trust that we're exploring a bunch of different options before. Just well, here's an idea, let's just activate on it. So that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 8:27

Absolutely. It makes sense because in that safety you were demonstrating trust, you were receiving trust and cultivating that trusting environment. So great examples. Gentlemen, let's keep moving, because the next thing once again back to that moment that you're thinking about with a team, how was it that you felt really engaged or really productive? I know there's been teams that I have been on where the clock doesn't even really matter. I'll work through the night, I'll work early in the morning, but when other people are engaged, it makes me want to work even more. When we're productive and actually moving things forward, I want to create even more momentum, and so when I think about being engaged or productive, it's a component of trust. But I'd love for each of you to do some thinking, jot some things down around that. Nathan, what about you? What stands out when you think about the times where you've been the most engaged and productive?

Speaker 1: 9:31

I think piggybacking off what I said earlier it's when those ideas have a point and a purpose and some action is going to be taken. And so when you just do a lot of brainstorming of ideas and they just go into an endless abyss, I don't feel engaged or productive is probably the big thing. So that team I was on it was like okay, brainstorm done, brainstorming, now let's pick action steps with dates. So it was very productive that way. So what about you, brian?

Speaker 3: 9:59

Well for me around this, engaged and productive. I think that I'm thinking of some elements that I need to feel like I'm being trusted in the process, and one of it is connection and motion. So when there's a connection to certain types of people and there's a motion to what we're doing, it feels like, you know, I'm trusted to carry my part to keep the relationship and to keep the motion moving. And so when I'm around a team where that kind of experience is happening for me, I feel like there's a high degree of trust because I'm carrying multiple components and one can't get too far ahead of the other. So that's how I respond is there's some elements for me that are indicative of a trusting team?

Speaker 2: 10:43

So good. Okay, third bullet in this section to think about and refine your thinking about this moment of trust or moment of being on a high trusting team is this when were you the most creative and innovative in that space? And we're all kind of touching on it, like so in some ways, these bullets, they might feel like almost like the same question, but we're trying to identify some of the nuances so that we really can get familiar with what it means to have and build and be part of and feel part of a high trusting team. And so when you think of the times that that you're most creative or innovative, I think of a lot of the work that we've done together at Leadership Vision.

Speaker 2: 11:31

Usually there's a lot of laughter, usually there's a lot of outside the box thinking. Sometimes Nathan is agitating that, sometimes Brian is, and there's a moment when we get in the rhythm and things just happen like this course, like this course, and so I feel like then we're seeing the demonstration of a high trust team. What about you, brian? What We'll start with Brian and then we'll kick it to Nathan.

Speaker 3: 11:56

Well, as I'm thinking about this, when I'm on a high trust team and there is a collaboration that's happening that is asking us all to get to a certain direction or a certain endpoint, that's where I feel the most creative and innovative is because I'm being entrusted to create a long side of someone, to innovate with somebody else, and that's where I feel like there's this kind of give and take, because here's my idea, like I'm trusting you to give me some feedback and you're doing the same thing with me. If that's happened with multiple people, I feel like the trust is elevating as the creativity and innovation is also increasing. I feel both of those levels going up at the same time. And how about you, nathan?

Speaker 1: 12:38

Yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 12:39

You know I'm trying not to use Leadership Vision examples because I feel like it'll you know, it'll be too weird just to only talk about that.

Speaker 1: 12:45

But I feel like early on in COVID so back in 2020, we were having to rethink the way that we did everything. And what I think gives me a sense of trust to be my most creative and most innovative is when there's an agreed upon like this is what we're trying to do, like a shared vision, a shared direction. However, you want to say that, and so, like, what helps me feel creative and innovative is like OK, so we're trying to do X, that's the ultimate solve here, and we used to do it this way. But let's, you know, think of something totally different. Maybe we deliver things virtually, maybe we do, you know, whatever, and when we still have that big Y in place, the teams that have that, for me that I've been on in my life Leadership Vision or otherwise it's just like yes, I trust that we're going to get there, but we can be creative in the way that we eventually navigate to that end goal. So it's sometimes it's hard to do, especially if a team is not aligned on those things. Right.

Speaker 2: 13:46

Right, but when they are, doesn't that feel so good.

Speaker 1: 13:49

Yeah, it does.

Speaker 2: 13:50

Yeah. So I think of all the examples that we've listed and I think we sometimes think, oh, trust is so easy. Or we remember these moments and we're like, why can't we just have that high trusting culture again and the high trusting environment again? And what we want to help people realize too is that as soon as, like, you've arrived at this high trusting environment, usually something happens and the concept of trusting almost becomes elusive. And so practicing being a high trusting team, cultivating practices where you are trusting of others and engaging with others, making others feel safe and where they can feel productive and innovative, that's really. That's really the key to this.

Speaker 3: 14:36

So the reason why we had you answer those three prompts is just to remind you that there are some very basic ways that each one of us can contribute to the building of a positive team culture. Each one of us have needs for trust. Each one of us knows what trust looks like and we know what some of the requirements are. And that's what those questions were all about is to remind each of us that we've been in trusting team situations before, and so how can we take that experience and build upon that to really engage these five elements of high trust teams? However, I know that each one of us have been a part of the maybe eroding of or the creation of distrust on a team, and if you can just think for a moment of teams where trust was shaken or trust was challenged, and you know what it could actually be the same teams you were thinking about in the three prompts that we just covered. Because trust, the authentic expression of a high trust team, is not just this gentle, incremental rise of building trust, building trust over time. It's more like a roller coaster there's moments of high trust and euphoria, then there's the valleys of distrust. But you kind of know the people, you know, you're kind of like going to ride out of that at some point. What I want to talk about right now is what's it like when you're descending on that roller coaster? You're feeling trust kind of like just shaking, maybe breaking apart a little bit. How do you respond?

Speaker 3: 16:02

And my question to all of us in this moment is what do you do when trust is eroding? Have you ever quit a team or quit a relationship because trust was being shaken, trust was being stretched, maybe when trust was broken? What was your role in that? Because there are times where I know that people step back, where I have stepped back and I have contributed to the distrust. So what I want to remind us is that we each have those tendencies. Sometimes those tendencies are triggered unconsciously and we don't know that we're beginning to distrust. And that's why these questions are so important to consider is how can we learn from our past experiences to then apply this when we can see that trust is beginning to erode, when trust is beginning to be tested? How can we then know to ourselves like, oh, this is a time where I need to, to what? And so that's what we're going to talk about is what happens when you begin to step back in trust.

Speaker 2: 17:02

So on your worksheet we have some more prompts to prompt your thinking, to allow you to distill your thinking in a way where it can be consumed and you can really realize that. What were the components of you quitting a team or what were the components of you quitting a relationship? So the question is begins, I guess, with a yes or no, and that is have you ever quit a team or quit a person because of a lack of trust? If you are human, this should be the answer yes. So I don't mean to shoot on anybody, but this really is. This happens, and it happens not because someone else is bad and you're good.

Speaker 2: 17:46

Oftentimes there is a line drawn in the sand and something happens. Maybe it's when the team has been really productive, the dollar bills are rolling in, everything is so great, and what you start to realize is oh yeah, all of a sudden we're just resting on our laurels and we're not pressing into different kinds of innovation. And so, yes or no, have you ever quit a team? And the part two of that question is what was the team? So maybe write the team down, the team name down, or name the person.

Speaker 3: 18:23

So, as you think of this moment when you've quit the team or quit a relationship, what I want you to think of is what did that look like? What did it look like when you were in that position where you were quitting the relationship or team or you're just kind of like just giving up? What did it look like in the moment and what did it look like over time? I also want you to think of this one. What did it sound like? Was there something that was said that kind of triggered you and you're like, okay, I can sense something's not going right here. Or was there something that you said in response to trust being challenged?

Speaker 3: 18:57

And then what did it feel like to you? Did you feel that sense of frustration or that you were letting down or that someone had failed you or that your expectations weren't met? Maybe you were sad, maybe you were unhappy. The joy was all gone. What did it feel like when you felt that distrust coming on, because I think that all of us can really connect to that sense of dread, like you can just feel like that chill happening. You know what's happening. Well, what did it feel like? So some of the prompts really quickly is what did it look like Physically, emotionally, what did it sound like and what did it feel like?

Speaker 2: 19:31

So one of the ways that we get at this is, when Brian talked about the roller coaster, that you go on full of ups and downs on the ride, of building and breaking trust. So it's almost like when Brian said, dread the tick, tick, tick up the roller coaster right before, good or bad, that goes down right or goes upside down with the loop-de-loops, but usually there's something that happens. It isn't just oh, you broke trust. It could be like there was a breakage, a small break, small breaks, ball break, and then it's like done. And we've just talked to so many people where they can really they can name that moment and then they need to get back to the prompts that Brian mentioned and that is what was that? What were the feelings, what was going on, what did it sound like?

Speaker 3: 20:19

And then the last prompt we want you to think about is then how long Did it take you to rebuild trust, how long did it take you to feel that you are willing to trust somebody else, or how long did it take for someone to trust you again? Because we all know that, in this sense of testing and challenging trust, that there is a recovery time that happens until we feel again that that trust has been established enough that we can extend it to somebody else and receive it from somebody else.

Speaker 1: 20:47

Can I ask a question that may or may not make it into the final edit?

Speaker 1: 20:51

here, yeah, yeah, do it. How much of this is about concern to choice, and what I mean by that is? I feel like, with trust, there's a certain element where I may not feel like it, I may not have the warm fuzzies, but a certain point like I just have to choose to trust. I just have to tell myself, okay, this might not be perfect right now, but I just need to kind of step in, step off the doc, so to speak, and kind of lean into this in faith and see what happens when you're working with clients. Is that part of this discussion at all?

Speaker 2: 21:33

Oh, yes, absolutely, Nathan. I think that's a really great question, because we see this all the time. It really comes down to commitment. It comes down to making a covenant that this is part of my team, and not necessarily like a marriage or anything like that, but there's times where you have to just decide into a relationship because you see it going somewhere, because you know that you don't feel that way, but you can almost act your way into it. Sometimes, obviously, there are things that break trust, there are behaviors that break trust that maybe indicate some toxic behavior or things that you don't want to be a part of, or that just cross the line of your values, and so, for us, yes, it is about commitment, and I would say the commitment makes it worth it and it makes you enjoy the roller coaster ride with the people that you have chosen to be a part of.

Speaker 1: 22:27

I think that makes a lot of sense. So thanks, linda, let's bring this home. Let's come back to the five phrases that you talked about and kind of brought up at the beginning. What are these?

Speaker 2: 22:36

Yes, the five behaviors and methods that promote team trust. Before we do this, Brian, why don't you tell us why this is important to look at these five?

Speaker 3: 22:46

We believe that one of the greatest challenges in creating a high trust team is the whole acceptance of other team members, the holistic acceptance of your team members, and what I mean by that is that you accept who they are, you accept their background, you accept their cultural heritage, the things that they believe, and one of the things that I just want to mention is that there's this man named Paul Zach.

Speaker 3: 23:10

He's the author of Trust Factor. He's a researcher on teams, team trust and how the brain responds when teams are high in trust, and one of the things that he says is this, and I quote trust requires viewing those with whom one works with as whole and complete human beings, not as pieces of human capital. I love that quote because it has been our experience in working with teams that when a team embraces that whole human being, their background, their lived experiences, the truths they live by, the people that they love, the way they conduct themselves through life, when that holistic acceptance is present, a massive and strong foundation of trust is built. And so one of the things that we know is that this is actually the place to start, and it's the golden thread that runs through each of these five elements of building high trust teams.

Speaker 2: 24:48

We are going to step into practicing the five behaviors and methods that promote team trust.

Speaker 2: 24:56

So, with every behavior and method that we list, we want to and they'll be listed on your worksheet we want to invite you to complete the following prompts for each one of the behaviors and methods. The first one is facilitate whole person acceptance and growth. It's nice to just nod with that one Yep, we're accepting. We're accepting that we're growing people, we're reintroducing ourselves to each other because we are growing people. So these are some prompts that we want you to consider when it comes to are you facilitating that growth on your teams? So the first prompt is is that quality present on your team? Why or why not? The second prompt is what does this key element look like, sound like, feel like? Maybe you even hear the words growth and acceptance and someone comes to mind that's already facilitating it, a promoting of trust from their position. And then I would invite you to rate yourself on a scale of one to five how important is this element to building trust on your team, maybe five being high? So like five, yes, five stars I want to be. I want to make sure that I have this. I want to be in a place where who I am is accepted, where I am expected to grow, and it's being facilitated. We're not just facilitating stuck environments. And the final prompt for this one, this method, is how can you contribute to building the acceptance and the knowledge on your team? So how can you contribute? Maybe you are the one creating the development opportunities, maybe you are the one that is pushing the envelope or raising the bar or really challenging other people with with what you're reading, what you're consuming and what you are sharing to allow people to be better.

Speaker 2: 27:04

The second method or behavior is intentionally building relationships. Same thing Consider the prompts that will help you get at. You know, is this, is this a present quality on your team? Uh, what does it look like? So I'm like feel like, how important is it to you, how important is it to the team and what can you do to help the, the team, intentionally build relationships? Maybe it's you pursuing someone outside of just the meeting and maybe it's, you know, making a point to walk with them to lunch or something like that.

Speaker 2: 27:43

The third behavior and method is giving individual autonomy. I joked at the beginning that no one likes to be told what to do, but we like to have a space. So what we do, we like to have a space where we can be free to create and think into some different ways. Same thing, go through the list of prompts and start to realize is that really an intense value for you? Is that really? Is this behavior and method really helpful?

Speaker 2: 28:11

The fourth one is creating challenge and difficulty. So I joked about this one, that challenge and difficulty shows up whenever you get humans together and you're working on something. And so when you look at challenge and you look at difficulty, maybe things are just going along so smoothly that there needs to be some kind of interruption or a different way where conflict is orchestrated not to be divisive but to push the end flow. We just worked with a team and one of the gentlemen is kind of a contrarian, but guess what? He is the one that prompts and promotes the kind of breakthrough thinking that helps deeper trust be built.

Speaker 2: 28:56

And the final behavior or method is recognizing excellence. We all want to be seen and known. Some people, like you, know their name to be shouted from the rooftops and other people just would rather have it in an email or in a you know face to face nod like an acknowledgement and a thank you. In what ways are recognition and celebration part of your team? And I'm not saying you have to throw a party for every single thing, but what is the element of celebration when you have a big win or hit a milestone? Is there a recognition of it or do you just go on to the all right? What do we have to do next? And each of these elements, and considering the prompts that go through, the elements of building high, trusting, high performing teams, will help give you greater insight into the, the things that you need to work on, the things that you can control and help shape, and the ways that you can invite your teammates to really help build and create a trusting environment.

Speaker 3: 29:57

So, as you listen to all five of those elements, you may be just a little bit overwhelmed with how much came to your mind as we walk through each of the five, but what I want to remind you is this building trust and creating a high trust team. That is a process. It is a journey that you're already on. It is a process that you've already had a lot of experience built up over time. You have the resources and you have the abilities to do it.

Speaker 3: 30:26

What I would invite you to do is to actually look at this list of these five elements of high performing teams and ask yourself which one of these are we actually good at? And you can, and then you can reinforce that, keeping the back of your mind that probably one of these elements is also something you think. This is going to be a project down the road, and it's okay to push points, elements, down the road three, four, five, six months but our goal and our hope for you is that you have a roadmap, a roadmap that starts with your lived experience and a roadmap that shows you the way to build high trust teams, one that's simple, one that's applicable and it's actually measurable over time, and, to think this, that you have a key role in contributing to the positive team health.

Speaker 1: 31:19

In this episode on trust, we explored the five methods that promote team trust. We discussed the importance of building high trust teams and how it contributes to a positive team culture. From establishing clear communication channels to fostering psychological safety, we have found that these methods are crucial, crucial, crucial, crucial for creating an environment where team members feel safe, supported and empowered. Now, as you reflect on this episode, ask yourself how you can apply these trust building methods within your own team to enhance collaboration, innovation and overall performance. Take a moment or two or three to ponder this question and take action towards cultivating that culture of trust within your team. Now, remember there are links in the show notes and accompanying blog posts if you want to download the worksheet and maybe go through it with your team.

Speaker 1: 32:09

Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this for the past 25 years and we would love to help you with this, so please reach out to us at connect at leadershipvisionconsultingcom if you have questions about anything you hear here today on the episode or any other way that we could help your team become more engaged, more productive, a greater sense of the feeling that they know what they're doing and they're fulfilling their mission. We would love it if you would subscribe to us on Apple podcast, on Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, and perhaps, more importantly, if you could share this information with someone that you think could benefit from building strong people, strong teams and strong culture. My name is Nathan Freeberg and, on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.