9 oktober 2019, kl. 11:45
By Marianne Fröberg, Business Coach Performant
This artice as also published at SCOA
Everyone who needs to set up a Team should know there are three things you need to focus to make a great Team.
The first is Trust
The second is Trust
The third is …. Trust
It is not a joke. I am terribly serious about this.
So let us discuss why and how you need to focus it, to lift your Team and your Business.Why are some systems so smooth, so seamless and so efficient and why are others so slow, complicated and energy consuming? Why do managers walk around all day asking for reports and controlling systems? Why does micromanagement exist at all?
If there should be one single factor to choose amongst all we see daily around us I would say TRUST is the one.
Any expert in the field of team development, from Lencioni, Google and Drexler-Sibbet puts Trust first of all.Lencioni puts it before Positive Conflict, Responsibility and Commitment. And before Results. They all depend on a solid base of a team trusting each other 1).
Google analysed in their Aristotle project why some of their teams where outstanding and discovered Trust as the fundamental team behaviour. They put it first, as a substantial part of Psychological Safety, the first important step before other crucial parts of an excellent Team as Dependability, Structure & Clarity, Meaning of Work and Impact of work.
Drexler-Sibbet puts Trust Building just after the Orientation. Followed by Goal Clarification, Commitment, Implementation, High performance and Renewal.
Trust is why you start doing instead of controlling. Trust is why you get the courage to implement an idea, start a new business and to take on a new challenge. Trust in others and in yourself is the single most important business success factor long-term. Just look at the connection between countries with a high Trust between people and their excellent economic growth.
Trust does not require more rules, legislation and limits. Trust does not require overdetailed reports and control systems. It creates the magic in a team you need to go up on stage being the best version of yourselves.
Trust enables your team creativity, essential for a rich innovation process. If we focus on getting quick and dirty results you can try Fear but if you want smarter solutions then let the real persons out, unlocking their unconditional creative thinking.
Trust is the fuel of courage.
So how do you create Trust between team members?
As easy as it sounds, we need to get to know each other on a deeper level, to reach an authentic interaction where we show each other a little bit more about who we are.
If we do not know each other we will not understand the behaviour of our colleagues. And that situation creates a risk of committing two big mistakes:
Judging – I apply my mental scheme on Your behaviour. As I do not understand what and why you behave in a different way I tend to “label” you and your actions.
Distance/Conflict – whatever I do not understand will create a feeling from a light discomfort to a hidden fear. This can activate my defence mechanism,“Flee or Fight”, with a series of conflictual behaviours from my side or me just taking a “safe” distance.
This can contribute to a lot of dysfunctional actions, as me hesitating to ask for help when I need it, or not speaking up when it is necessary.
So how can we find the right climate become a functional Team? The mission of the Team coaching is to create an independent, empowered, transparent, non-judging Team full of Trust able to take quick and well- meditated decisions. Starting a Team Coaching with your Team can be an excellent to create Trust in an efficient and controlled way.
There is a big challenge as Trust requires you to be authentic. It means “You have to be You”, also in the workplace.
Before you start, it can be useful to introduce some personal reflections about your leadership. Do I as a leader have an authentic leadership? Am I aware of how I behave every day at work? How many of my colleagues feel safe to tell me what I need to hear? Do I give responsibility?
Going through the first Team Coaching Certificate of Prof. David Clutterback in Italy I see an enormous potential. Team coaching is about our behaviours, how to connect and how to analyse and take quick decision using the collective intelligence. Coming out of Trust, it is astonishing to see it happen!
Marianne Fröberg
Business Coach at SCOA
References:
1. Lencioni model High Performing and Dysfunctional Teams
2. https://ourworldindata.org/trust-and-gdp
How Does Social Trust Affect Economic Growth? Christian Bjørnskov 2012