You're working with a new team. How can you build trust quickly in Business Architecture?

1 Understand the context

Before you start working with a new team, do some research on their background, goals, challenges, and expectations. Find out what are their pain points, priorities, and preferences. Ask them about their current state, desired state, and vision for the future. This will help you understand their context and perspective, and show them that you care about their needs and interests. It will also help you identify potential gaps, overlaps, or conflicts between their domain and yours, and prepare for addressing them.

2 Communicate clearly and openly

Communication is key for building trust in business architecture. You need to communicate clearly and openly with your new team, and avoid jargon, ambiguity, or assumptions. Use simple and consistent language, and explain any acronyms or technical terms that you use. Provide relevant and timely information, and avoid withholding or hiding anything that may affect the team's work or decisions. Listen actively and respectfully to what the team has to say, and acknowledge their feedback and input. Ask questions to clarify any doubts or misunderstandings, and confirm your understanding and agreement.

3 Demonstrate value and credibility

Another way to build trust in business architecture is to demonstrate your value and credibility to your new team. Show them how your work can help them achieve their goals, solve their problems, or improve their situation. Provide examples or evidence of your previous successes, achievements, or recognition in business architecture. Share your expertise, knowledge, or insights that can benefit the team, and offer your support, guidance, or advice when needed. Be confident and professional, but also humble and willing to learn from others.

4 Collaborate and co-create

Collaboration and co-creation are essential for business architecture, as they enable you to align and integrate different domains and perspectives into a coherent and holistic view of the organization. To build trust with your new team, you need to collaborate and co-create with them, and not impose or dictate your solutions or ideas. Involve them in the process of defining, designing, and delivering the business architecture outcomes, and respect their opinions, inputs, and contributions. Use tools and techniques that facilitate collaboration and co-creation, such as workshops, brainstorming, modeling, prototyping, testing, and feedback.

5 Be honest and reliable

Finally, to build trust in business architecture, you need to be honest and reliable with your new team. Be transparent and truthful about your intentions, expectations, and limitations. Don't make promises that you can't keep, or commitments that you can't deliver. If you make a mistake, admit it and apologize. If you face a challenge, share it and ask for help. If you have a disagreement, address it and resolve it. Follow through on your actions and responsibilities, and deliver on your results and quality. Be consistent and dependable, and show that you can be trusted.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?