How to Build Trust in a Workplace Between Coworkers

2 years ago

In any organization, a collaboration between team members is important. The relationships that are built between your organization will ensure that your business is always successful and trust will be the cornerstone of it.

Successful teamwork is built on trust. Each member of a team must build trust, cultivate it through their actions and words, and strive to maintain it. Also, each member must be able to fully trust the other people with whom they work, expressing the problems that may arise and that affect the team environment and moving all together towards the achievement of objectives.

What Is The Process To Build Trust And How To Maintain It?

Trust is not something that is established by decree. It is a human process, so it requires the provision of trust, in addition to caring for and nurturing it, so that it consolidates over time and that bond is generated.

There must be a concern and an occupation among the team members to build and consolidate trust over time. Likewise, trust is not something that once it is achieved it is maintained by itself, since it has the same behavior as a fluid: you have to contain them, and if they have holes they wear out.

It must be taken into account that the mere fact of coexisting with a human being generates wear and tear on trust.

That is, if you work with another person, the mere fact that they are different and generate individual expectations gradually erodes trust.

Hence the importance of doing activities on a daily basis to continue feeding it. It is what some authors call a "deposit of trust", that is, actions that nurture the relationship with the other.

To maintain a good level of trust, you have to keep your word, maintaining an environment of mutual respect, creating an environment of knowledge that, ultimately, translates into behaviors that maintain a high level of trust over time.

If this is done, synergy and teamwork are strengthened and the benefits are greater for all. There is no healthy working relationship if there is no mutual benefit involved.

How To Build Trust In A Workplace

There are many factors that break trust within a work team; to avoid them we recommend the following tips:

Communication

Consistent and meaningful communication is imperative for building trust within a team. we talked about how to improve communication in our blog a lot, For example, if a member completes one of the first tasks, they should let their coworkers know and ask if another member of the team needs help with their part of the work. Also, if a team member discovers information relevant to the team's success, such as a date change or lack of resources, they should let their teammates know as soon as possible. Within virtual teams, even more effort must be made to keep lines of communication open, uninterrupted, and to keep all members in the loop. It is also necessary for team members to confirm that they have received the message, to give feedback, so as not to compromise and build trust.

Commitment

Fulfilling our commitments will always maintain active trust among your work team. Each member must commit to helping their colleagues meet the company's goals, regardless of personal or professional obstacles that may arise. As it is, in the case of absences from work, provide support in case of illness of the absent partner.

Commitment is an important part of trust. Each member of a team must commit to helping their colleagues achieve their goals when personal and professional obstacles arise that must be overcome. Also, team members must trust that other people will do their part of the work without mistakes. Each member of the team must be aware of the damaging consequences of not fulfilling their commitments.

Respect

Accepting other team members as legitimate human beings is the beginning of building trust within the organization. Each individual can authentically express themselves expressing both their strength and their weakness, and even having different ideas, they can discuss and modulate them mutually with the intention of achieving the results of the team.

Cooperation & Collaboration

When team members cooperate, they share ideas without fear that another team member will get credit for their ideas, so they will feel that they are in an environment of trust and will not hesitate to express their concerns in relation to the objectives of the organization or the other members. A cooperative and trusted team will allow its members to share more personal information and develop a stronger bond between them.

Without trust and cohesion among team members, it is impossible for true trust to emerge. When team members collaborate they are able to share their creative ideas without fear of another member claiming their achievements. Also, when team members feel they can trust their peers, they will raise concerns that they consider are relevant to achieving goals. Therefore, achieving this collaborative environment, based on trust, allows team members to share personal and professional information in a fluid way, uniting all members.

Create A Supportive Environment

A supportive environment stimulates and encourages employees to be innovative and come up with new ideas. To create it it is necessary to listen to them actively but above all by showing understanding even when mistakes have been made. On the other hand, after the mistake has occurred, the finger tends to be pointed at the culprit, generating an unpleasant working atmosphere that decreases the team's morale and makes it less productive. Mistakes should rather be turned into something constructive, for example by asking questions such as:

• How can we go about resolving what has happened?
• How can we prevent it from happening again?

Building trust and maintaining it is a process of constant practice of behaviors over and over again until they become the way of being of the team and for which each member must take on some responsibility.