• 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.

• Make sure there is a shared goal – make sure everyone on the team is in agreement with what they are trying to accomplish. This shared goal is important in helping team members make a commitment to see it through to the end. It is hard for people to be dedicated to a cause if they are unsure of what the cause actually is!
• Segment the end goal in to stages – in most cases, a goal will not be accomplished over night. Have the team break the project into several stages and work piecemeal to accomplish the larger goal. Achieving these smaller goals will act as a psychological “win” for the team and encourage them to complete the task at hand.
• Size matters – There are numerous theories out there about the number of employees needed for optimal performance on a team. Make sure that there are enough team members to carry the workload, but not too many that the group falls into discord (too many cooks in the kitchen). Somewhere between 5 and 9 people is a good rule of thumb.

• Get the right people on board – Get people truly invested and dedicated to the cause! This will help you achieve the change you desire (think about the differences between the Obama Presidential campaign and the McCain Presidential campaign. Sure, McCain had his devout followers, but Obama created a mass culture of change to support his candidacy). Change requires leadership from the top of the organization. To get the ball rolling on meaningful change, the average employee needs to be involved in the change movement – after all, it is the average employee that conducts the day to day business of the company and is responsible for implementing and completing any change initiatives that trickle down from above.
• Have a vision – if you wish to change something within an organization, make sure you know what you want to change it to. Identify how long should it take to see the change? Who is going to be involved in implementing this change? These are the types of questions that need to be asked before setting out on a change campaign. Making sure there are strategic goals in place helps team members work together to achieve the desired future state.
• Foster a community of trust – change within an organization can be an uncertain time for many employees. For some, change may be viewed as a threat because it may affect their job. By fostering a sense of trust among people in the organization and helping all employees to see that the change is good for the company and for them, they will be more likely to work together to enact the change desired.