Importance of a Strong Team Foundation

My two-year-old daughter loves to play with Lego blocks.  Nowadays, they have these industrial size Lego pieces and she’s all over them like ketchup on fries.  Speaking of fries, sometimes the hitch to eating them is when they are scorching!  That can be frustrating.  Equally, my daughter loves Lego blocks, but they do have the supremacy to make her frustrated. 

She tries her little heart out to randomly stack the blocks to create a tall structure, but it ends up toppling over.  Consequently, she starts to rapidly flail her hands causing pieces to take flight!  I automatically cover my head and take shelter.  Older kids understand that to be able to perfect a tall standing structure, the foundation is what enables you to reach new heights.  She has yet to understand the importance of having a strong foundation. 

When it comes to the workplace, sometimes we build like my 2-year-old with little to no foundation.  We use random building blocks to shape our team without fully comprehending their impact.  We haphazardly make decisions, discredit important factors, let biases cloud our judgment, rely on heuristics, fail to engage and collaborate, or do not take ownership and accountability.  We then put this all together and it falls over and we are left wondering why the team doesn’t achieve its goals and potential ambitions. 

The groundwork is crucial in building a team that is high performing and the foundation impacting the success of any team is trust.  In the workplace, sometimes we don’t quite comprehend the importance of having a strong foundation either.  Having a high level of trust within a team will even allow you the flexibility of making a haphazard decision without major impact on the morale of the team.  This is because the relationships stem from trust whereas the opposite would not be true.  This will allow you to make organizational changes quicker and for the better in such a competitive market.  It is in your best interest to make connections, relate to others, be considerate, and have empathy.  When you have a trusting relationship, people will accept rules, policies, procedures, and corrective action.    

Mutual trust is a shared psychological state that is characterized by an acceptance of vulnerability based on expectations, intentions, or behaviours of others within the team.  If you have mutual trust you have a safe environment for its members who take risks for one another and support each other.  Fellow team members have confidence in one another and any weaknesses, skill deficiencies, mistakes, and interpersonal shortcomings are not used against one another.  Put confidence in your employees, trust them and they will prosper.      

If I told you that I own a home, you would have no reason not to believe me.  In fact, you would probably take that statement as fact.  We all have a truth bias, particularly if we know the person and there are no hints of deception.  If an individual suspects deception, they will begin to question your motive.  They will ask themselves, does this person have my best interest?  If their answer is no or questionable, you lost them therefore ultimately impacting group dynamics.  Once people feel understood and accepted, they are more open to influence.  You start off advantageous because the level of trust is already at an adequate level but its up to you to maintain and grow it.    

Trust within a team is undermined because of an insidious culprit – the ego.  Selfish needs can be so strong because of a desire to want power, recognition, monetary remuneration, a promotion, or to win.  In trusting relationships, the prerogative is to provide value to others, be of service to them, and elevate themselves.  If you have a hidden agenda, this only makes you worried about yourself.  Constantly re-evaluate yourself by looking at the impact your ego has on the team.  The idea is to have the team row together in the same direction utilizing the many different skills and abilities.  Any group can achieve success if they can achieve unity and compliment each other.  Put the groups goals ahead of individual goals.

Communication has a significant impact on building trust.  Being open, prompt, frank, and genuine enables people to gather evidence about trustworthiness and credibility.  It also helps build the basis for continued interaction from which group values and norms are developed.  Many times, individuals engage in unhealthy behavior to avoid an uncomfortable situation or perilous conversation.  Learn and practice how to hold these tough conversations. 

The communication climate should be one that is supportive rather than defensive.  The former occurs when ideas are shared freely, dialogue is based on task not people, conflict resolution is open and fair, solutions to problems are understood and committed to.  Create a supportive communication environment by having proactive information exchange, engaging in regular and predictable communication, actively listening with action, and explicitly verbalizing commitment.  The latter occurs when ideas are suppressed, conflict becomes personality issues, conflict resolution is hidden and unsatisfactory to many, and solutions to problems are not known or bought in. 

When it comes to you as an individual, grapple any forms of deception when communicating otherwise trust will plummet.  Avoid the following:

• Providing false information
• Downplaying the truth and not being candid
• Omitting information by not telling the whole truth
• Stretching the truth by using absolute statements (ex. always or never)
• Making vague or ambiguous statements

As an individual, commit to the following principles to help foster a work environment filled with trust:

• Credibility – provide the right advice, have proper judgment, be objective
• Reliability – keep promises, commitments, hide other’s mistakes, and repeatedly deliver
• Authentic – be genuine, truthful, fair, uphold rights of others, and have the teams best interest
• Transparent – share information, be open, candid, and honest in a respectful manner
• Unique abilities – capitalize on the strengths of others and have self-awareness
• Shared experiences – engage in experiences as a team, celebrate wins and milestones

Trust isn’t a matter to be taken lightly.  Avoid violating the rights of others and fulfill the requirements of your part adequately.  Everyone is different and requires different levels of support.  Although, trust is integral to well-being and growth for all.  There is pleasure to your brain when trust is gained and so the greater the pool of trust, the more your team prospers.