Want more trust at work? Then make it visible

Trust can’t be seen, heard, or touched. It can’t be booted up or turned on. It can’t be crisply measured or defined.

Yet trust is the foundation of good dialogue, great teamwork, and true community in the workplace. It’s that important.

So how do you turn this elusive intangible into an everyday reality? By making it visible. Here are four practical actions:

Talk about it
Words have their own creative power — to such a degree that what we talk about is often what we become. So start a conversation about trust with your colleagues. Try to make this an ongoing dialogue that keeps trust on everyone’s radar. You might have to wait for the right opening to get people talking. For instance, the start of a new team project can be the perfect springboard for dialogue. Have team members describe what strong trust would look like, then brainstorm specific ways to make it happen.

Go for it
Back up your words with action. Take a leap of faith and show greater trust in more people, even if you have to grit your teeth while doing it. Delegate that task you’ve been holding onto for years. Ask for help from that co-worker you’ve been keeping at arm’s length. Hand out that data you’ve been keeping so close to the vest. Push for a wider sharing of decision-making responsibility. Encourage people to pursue and develop their own ideas. As you show greater trust, you’ll get more in return while inspiring others to follow your lead.

Assess it
Make a point of evaluating the extent of trust in your workplace. Do this with colleagues on a regular basis. If you have a monthly meeting, for example, make it a 10-minute item on the agenda. One approach is to have people share recent examples of trust in action. Simple storytelling is a great way to make trust visible while figuring out what works when it come to building trust in the workplace.

Reinforce it
Underscore the importance of trust and trust-building by writing it into job descriptions, performance evaluations, team evaluations, values statements, and elsewhere. Include it in criteria for making hiring and promotion decisions. Make it the focus of specific questions in employee surveys. Added up, all these references remind people that trust is integral to their success as individuals and to the overall success of the organization.

By Tom Terez • Contact