Trust: The Foundation for High Performing Teams

Posted on | January 20, 2010 |

Trust is the foundation of great teamwork and a prerequisite for developing high performing teams. Trust is the confidence among team members that:

Their team colleague’s intentions are good—even when they disagree

There is no reason to be protective or careful in what they say or do in the team setting

They are comfortable being vulnerable with one another

If you spot team members engaging in the following behaviors you can probably bet that trust is low:

Team members conceal mistakes and weaknesses

They hesitate to ask for help

They do not provide constructive feedback to each other

They jump to conclusions about the motives of others

They do not tap into other’s skills

They hold grudges

The solution: address the root causes of low-trust through conducting meaningful team building sessions run by the team leader or a capable external facilitator. Left unchecked, low-trust teams will under perform, waste resources, and fail to deliver.