Teamwork and The 3 Principals of Trust

Let’s talk about what #teamwork really means. As #leaders we all seek to improve our team’s performance. We understand that in order to succeed, it is not enough to have strong and capable people in the team, but rather, we want to create strong relationships and cooperation that lead to productive and successful team work. But how? What makes some relationships more productive than others? Why do we still enjoy working with some more than with others?

Experience has taught me that it depends a lot on the level of trust we manage to develop with each individual and between our team mates. I define those levels of trust by three dimensions and today I want to talk about the first dimension, #FUNCTIONALTRUST.

Functional Trust is the very basic fundamental requirement of working together, the expectation that the other will deliver upon his or her duties and fulfill their role and responsibilities. We first define what those expectations are and align them, and then over time, we learn whether our team member can deliver upon them. When this equation is met, we have the final affirmation that in terms of #skillset and professional capabilities, we have the right people in place.

But, functional trust alone is not enough. Next I'll talk about the second dimension, Strategic Trust

Functional Trust is the very basic fundamental requirement of working together, the expectation that the other will deliver upon his or her duties and fulfill their role and responsibilities.

But functional trust alone is not enough. In order to have a productive work relationship, we also need the second principal #strategictrust. To assure we can obtain this second level of trust, we want to know that the person working with us is not only capable, but also in line with our approach, with the objectives and the long-term strategy.

Building this strategic trust with each of our team members and between them will bring us to a harmonized team – a cooperative team that has clarity on what it is going after, why and how to reach it in a synergistic manner.

Once you have established strategic trust and functional trust, the third and final level of trust is what I refer to as Personal Trust. While I believe that Functional Trust and Strategic Trust are imperative for a productive team work, I treat the third level of the Personal Trust as a luxury.

Why? Because it is with only a few individuals that you will learn over time to really develop a personal trust. Having the assurance that this individual will always be there to support you and promote your doings and even your personal success. Knowing that the heart of that person will always be on the “right” side is what makes the difference.

This holds true for all types of relationships, whether with a colleague, with an employee, with your employer or even with your customers. One this is certain, in order to reach this level of trust, the effort must be mutual and continuous.

You will learn to consume, learn to forgive, agree to sometimes disagree and balance conflict of interests but always with the transparency, integrity and a partnership approach. That is #TeamWork!