Source: Unsplash – Pawel Czerwinski
When it rains, it sometimes storms.
‘We were going through some changes in our organisation with more people coming on board, switching systems, having more online meetings since WFH was a default mode and a revamp in our go-to-market strategy. During one of these online meetings, Albert burst out with irritation when Toby kept asking questions to clarify a new process for the workflow. Everyone was quite shocked as this was unlike Albert’s usual calm demeanor. Later that day, we received a text message from Albert on our Telegram chat group:
“I know I was not in the best of moods this morning during our meeting. It’s been hard on me as I grapple with all these changes we are making to keep us afloat and thriving. Not being able to have ‘live’ conversations in-person doesn’t make things better for me. My eyes, body and mind are just plain tired from all these online meetings we have been having. I am sorry for the outburst earlier. Toby, I am sorry for being annoyed with your clarification process. I appreciate you are doing your best to understand the new processes so we can keep this ship going. Please be assured that I’ll do my part in keeping this ship moving forward.”’
The scenario described above may resemble many of our own experiences. But the text message by Albert may not be a prevalent practise we have seen in our own organisations.
In another article, Shhhh… Listen! Do You Hear The Sound Of Trust In Your Workplace?, we shared what vulnerability-based trust in a team looks like and what it brings to a team. Over here, Albert admitted his interpersonal shortcomings knowing that they would not be used against him. He got naked before his team unsure if the team would respond in kind. He made himself vulnerable. And he may have felt safe to do so because there was trust in the team.
5 exercises & tools
“Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” ~ Patrick Lencioni
Perhaps with perseverance and discipline over time by each team member, trust can be built.
Vulnerability-based trust requires the team members to have shared experiences over time, multiple instances of follow-through and credibility as well as a deep understanding of the unique ‘super powers’ each team member brings to the table.
Here, we briefly share five ways to overcome distrust in teams and you can evaluate each before deciding which one you can start with. Of course we’re here to help you along too.
Source: Unsplash – Matthew Jungling
Personal histories exercise
Depending on the size of the team, this easy to administer exercise can take about an hour. It’s a low risk exercise with no props needed. Just the team members taking turns to answer a short list of questions.
Some suggested questions are to share on how many family members they have, their hometown, most favourite pastime, first job and most hated job. Don’t be surprised if team members who have worked with each other for several years are surprised at the information shared during the session and how the team finds out how little they know of each other.
Just a small amount of information begins to break down walls.
The ‘Hot Seat’ exercise
“Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” ~ Patrick Lencioni
This exercise involves more risk than the first. Each team member identifies and notes down the most important contribution each of their team members brings to the table as well as one area they must either improve on or eliminate for the benefit of the team.
Each team member verbally shares their insights focusing on one peer at a time, starting with the team leader. This exercise works surprisingly with little tension even with relatively dysfunctional teams.
Personality and behavioural preference profiles
The objective of administering such tools is to provide practical and scientifically valid behavioural descriptions of team members based on the different ways they think, speak and act.
We suggest DISC. If you do decide to use this tool, you would require a certified consultant to administer and debrief the team on the report so as not to misuse the powerful implications and applications of the tool.
360-degree feedback
360 feedback can produce powerful results though they are riskier than the first three above. Riskier as they require peers to make specific judgements and provide each other with constructive criticism.
The key to having this work effectively is by divorcing the exercise from compensation packages and formal performance reviews. It should be used as a developmental tool that allows team members to identify strengths and weaknesses without any ramifications.
Experiential team exercises
The benefit of such exercises is that it involves collective support and cooperation though they may not necessarily translate directly to our work environments. However, they can be valuable to enhance teamwork so long as they are built upon more fundamental and relevant processes.
Source: Unsplash – Xavi Cabrera
Choosing to build trust in our teams
When leading teams, we sometimes are not able to choose our team members. But we can choose to build trust in the teams we lead.
And when we do, we are building teams that feel a greater psychological safety to speak up, ask questions, or make suggestions without fear of any backlash on relationships or personal reputation. By putting in the effort to build high trust team environments we foster innovation, a faster decision making process and advancement within teams. When we build trust in teams we increase the team morale and team members have more fun working together.
We hope you’ll choose to build trust in your teams.
©Published by Lifeskills Institute Pte Ltd
Lifeskills Institute is an authorised partner of The Five Behaviors®, a Wiley Brand, and the strategic partner of Zenger Folkman for Singapore and Malaysia. Our Chief Enabling Officer, Ian Tan is a Master Facilitator certified by Zenger Folkman.
The Five Behaviors® solutions can help you activate your team’s ability to drive results through cohesive teamwork, whether it is with the Personal Development solution which helps individuals learn the skills they need to “team” effectively, or the Team Development solution which helps intact teams gain the know-how to work better together. Both solutions use the framework of best-selling author Patrick Lencioni’s model for teamwork which focuses on Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. This framework is combined with personalised insights to create powerful, customized, and authentic team development solutions that empowers both teams and individuals to make lasting change.