How to identify a lack of trust in the team

How to identify a lack of trust in your team

Have you ever stopped to think that the development of vulnerability is directly linked to successful team performance? It may seem contradictory, but the absence of this behavior undermines the group's trust. 

In general, employees tend not to express their ideas and opinions, for fear of negative feedback. It is from this that the team's development is slowed down.

Understanding the importance behind developing this capacity, the LongVision prepared this content. Continue reading and find out:

How to identify a lack of trust in the team

Working on vulnerability is a long journey, but it provides countless benefits to employees. Before starting to develop this question, it is important to discuss its meaning in the workplace.

Basically, being vulnerable professionally means accepting that we have imperfections, and we don't need to hide these points. Therefore, developing this skill has a direct impact on the team's confidence, improving their performance.

For The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written by Patrick Lencioni, the lack of trust between teammates is one of the 5 main dysfunctions responsible for hindering the group’s growth. For him, when we exercise honesty, we build a special type of trust: vulnerability-based trust.

Through daily exercises based on vulnerability, we work on lack of trust in the team. In other words, coworkers who are honest about their frustrations become more trusting of each other. It is from this trust that collaboration increases, improving the group's performance.

However, how exactly do you work on professional vulnerability?

To improve team confidence, you need to develop the ability to be vulnerable in the workplace. This can be worked on in countless ways and in different situations, such as: 

Seek help when needed:

Seeking help is one of the main difficulties within teams without trust. This is due to the idea that showing imperfections is a weakness. Such a belief can prevent the creation of partnerships between professionals.
Demonstrating the need for support may be a difficult task, but it is crucial on the path towards a more confident team. This is because it is through this support that trust is established, enabling development.

Take responsibilities:

Even though mistakes made within a team are a collective responsibility, admitting mistakes is an excellent sign of vulnerability. This shows other professionals that mistakes are part of the learning process, and that taking responsibility for a mistake does not have negative consequences. On the contrary, it helps in the faster search for a solution.

Admit your limits:

One of the main alarming aspects of the lack of trust in the team is the attempt to hide their limits and think that it is necessary to have a right answer for everything. 
People who genuinely admit that they do not know something, open space for collaboration and allow the search for more feasible and achievable solutions for the benefit of the collective result.
When teammates seek help from each other, a feeling of collaboration is created. Not to mention that many problems can be solved more effectively when done in groups. Therefore, it is necessary for leaders to encourage teamwork, making problems collective.

Enabling difficult conversations:

Proposing a debate on difficult subjects is a great tool for working on vulnerability. Raise important questions to the team and ask for help from employees to resolve the issue. This practice helps develop partnerships between colleagues, improving trust. 

And what is the role of the leader in building vulnerable trust?

Being an example for the rest of the team, leaders and managers must be the first to demonstrate vulnerability. Often, the Lack of trust in the team is caused by the fear of demonstrating imperfections within the organizational hierarchy.

Thus, when a leader demonstrates his or her insecurities, the team becomes more comfortable talking about their frustrations. At this time, it is important that superiors do not make criticisms or ironic comments, always maintaining a welcoming position. 

Patrick Lencioni then uses as an example the story of an organization whose leaders had difficulty admitting their mistakes. Instead, they were seen by their teams as intimidating. This all meant that those led began to copy this behavior, never demonstrating imperfections.

Over time, problems that were thrown under the rug began to appear. With the high demand for issues to be resolved and the lack of trust in the team, collective results were harmed. In the end, they had to sell the organization for a fraction of its original value.

Are there trainings that work on this skill?

If you are a team leader and want to seek professional training for your employees, get to know the The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team. The program based on Patrick Lencioni's best-seller teaches employees from different teams to trust each other.

In addition to vulnerability-based trust, the program trains other important behaviors in building more cohesive teams. Among these behaviors, we have constructive conflicts, commitment, accountability and results. 

Do you want to know more about how this training takes place and how it can eliminate a lack of trust in the team? So stay here on the blog and check it out:

How The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Program can help your team

Did you like it? Share this article!

Tags: 
link
linkedin Facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter Instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter Instagram