What do you do if your team lacks trust and psychological safety for collaboration and teamwork?

If your team’s trust is low and safety’s out the window, it’s time to get real. Evaluate trust like a billionaire negotiates—upfront, no nonsense. Make your team great. Create a circle of trust, make them feel heard, and watch teamwork soar. Huge results will follow!

When trust and psychological safety are lacking in team, I prioritize building a supportive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. Through open communication, active listening, and fostering empathy, we cultivate a culture of trust and collaboration. Together, we break down barriers and unlock our full potential. In many scenarios cutting shit in the budding stage is essential to continue moving towards the main goal.

To my mind a lack of trust often starts to evolve if one of these three aspects is questioned 1?? reliability You must rely on your team and vise versa. If that's not the case, you are running into a trust issue. 2?? confidence You and team members must have confidence in their skills. If you are not confident in a team member's ability to handle a task, he or she won't perform. If team members are not confident in your leadership skills, they won't follow your directives which may cause a lot of trouble and is a clear sign of a trust issue. 3?? credibility Your team members must believe in you and the path you outline for them. Otherwise they won't pursue the same goals as you. So, stand by your word!

Because trust and psychological safety go hand-in-hand, I love using the Psychological Safety Scan (PSI) as a starting point to not only assess but foster a meaningful conversation on the current state of the team. This provides valuable insights into what is contributing to aspects of psychological safety that are high and where it's being challenged. To specifically assess trust, we also either use the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team assessment or if we're going to be doing the Dare to Lead program with a team, one of the pre-assessments measures trust. This is also because trust and vulnerability are also highly interconnected. Regardless, it's important to look at overall team functioning and what role trust plays within that.

Rebuilding trust requires challenging current cultural norms that hinder it. Facilitate open discussions to identify trust-eroding behaviors. Consider multiple ways of gathering input before and during the discussions to ensure all voices are heard and reflected in the norms. While you will have input unique to your situation, prioritize behaviors that promote transparency around communications, decision-making, accountability, a safe space to ask questions without judgment from one's teammates, productive conflict resolution practices, and active listening. Norms are only effective when you put them into action, have fun practicing, regularly assess your progress, celebrate collective wins and adapt.

Open Communication: Encourage open, honest, and transparent communication among team members. Create opportunities for everyone to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns without fear of judgment.Lead by Example: Demonstrate trustworthiness, integrity, and empathy in your actions and interactions with team members. Model the behavior you want to see within the team.Establish Clear Expectations: Define roles, responsibilities, and expectations clearly to avoid misunderstandings and promote accountability.Provide Feedback: Offer constructive feedback regularly and encourage feedback from team members. Focus on improvement rather than criticism.Celebrate Successes: Acknowledge and celebrate individual and team achievements.

In addition, I would demonstrate the positive Behaviours that build their Trust - invite Staff to share Ideas, no Blame Culture for Mistakes, follow Procedures just like anyone else, increase face-to-face Interactions with Staff, Team building activities, invite Staff to join in Management Meetings. Unless Staff buy-into my Vision, due to lack of Trust, then my Vision cannot succeed.

To foster trust and psychological safety, prioritize open communication and vulnerability. Lead by example, sharing challenges and seeking feedback. Establish clear expectations and celebrate diverse contributions. Encourage team members to voice concerns without fear of judgment. Implement team-building exercises and regular check-ins to reinforce trust and promote collaboration.