Trust Bust: Avoid This Business Mistake as End of Year Approaches
You are already stressed, so why do you want to add to it?
The end of the year for many business owners and their teams is a hectic time, with many loose ends to tie up and fresh tasks to set for the upcoming year. The tension is high and making one particular objective right now would only intensify the situation. So, what is the mistake that we are talking about?
Trust-Building at the Year’s End
The common mistake being alluded to is building trustful relationships within your organisation. The end of the year is not the time to invest vast amounts of time and energy into strengthening trust between team members or between your team and external contacts, even if it is an issue you want to fix. It’s not that it shouldn’t be addressed but that it shouldn’t be addressed at the present moment.
But, why is it a grave error to start this task in the late part of the year?
A Matter of Timing
Trust-building activities are a low-priority item in December, to put it simply. There are projects that are integral at the moment, and they deserve your attention instead given that the year is coming to a close.
These pressing items include sales quotas to achieve and budgets to plan for the upcoming year. The tasks must be complete by January and, so, they take precedence over strategies to build trust.
Besides, if trust is weak within the organisation at this point, waiting a few more months before strategising how to achieve effective collaboration will likely not make a difference in the long run.
And, if you need another reason why trust-strengthening exercises are not appropriate for the end of the year, here you go:
Building Trust Takes Time
Developing trustful relationships within an organisation takes time. It is not something that you can typically start and end all within the end of the year, at least not if you want to be successful.
Trust is a “low cooking item,” meaning it takes time to build properly. Indeed, change is not to be forced as doing so can impair rather than strengthen organisational cooperation.
Instead of rushing the process, start fresh in the new year strengthening relations between your team. In the meantime, focus on the end-of-year items, such as reaching quotas; hold off on the trust issue for a better time, such as January or February.
Not Adding to the Stress
Now that you know to avoid this common end-of-the-year mistake, we hope your stress levels decline at least a little bit. As for relaxing, the best time to do so is when you don’t have time for it.
Dr Jordi Robert-Ribes sparks effective collaboration within companies. He founded Connecting Perspectives (www.connectingperspectives.com) to enable effective collaboration within companies. His vision has allowed him to help companies in different countries worldwide.