Three Ways to Develop Trust at Work

 

Emmanuelle looks around the room at the sales team. She’s new at the company and still learning about the relationship dynamics between her coworkers. Tensions are running high as it was just announced that the team didn’t make their sales goal for the second month in a row. Not that she’s surprised.

This past month, the marketing assistant was asked to create a pitch deck from scratch for a potential client in Canada—a large hospitality brand. Emmanuelle found out later that he’d never created a pitch deck before yet wouldn’t ask anyone for help. The marketing manager knew that he wasn’t very experienced yet was too focused on meeting her personal goals to offer guidance.

The major blow came when the marketing assistant waited until the day before the account director was flying to Canada to meet the client, to hand over a few poorly organized slides that covered only a fraction of the information needed. Not to mention that the hyper-analytical language he used that wasn’t appropriate for a luxury hotel brand.

The poor account director had to pull an all-nighter to get the deck done himself, before pitching with red eyes on zero sleep. The result? That client is no longer a potential.

Why is This Team So Dysfunctional?

Emmanuelle has been racking her brain trying to figure out how to navigate this new playing field. What’s going on with this team? Why is it so dysfunctional?

Just because the necessity of teamwork has been preached to us since childhood doesn’t mean we’re inherently good at it—or even like it for that matter. Working with other people can be challenging, even more so in the workplace when stakes are high. So now that we’re off the little league field, what can we, as working adults, do to have a positive and winning team? According to Patrick Lencioni, there are five core areas where dysfunction can be seen in teams: lack of trust, fear of conflict, avoidance of commitment, lack of accountability and not results-focused.

In Emmanuelle’s case, her team has a major trust deficit. Teams that don’t have trust don’t function well. Let’s take a look at the importance of trust, what teams with and without trust look like, and how we can start building trust in our own teams starting today.

Great Teams Have Trust

Here are some facts about teams and trust:

·         Interaction associates & human capital institute study shows high performing organizations have higher levels of trust than low performing organizations

So the studies tell us high performing teams have trust, but what exactly does a team with trust look like versus a team without trust?

Teams with and Without Trust: What They Look Like

Teams that don’t have trust:

·         Conceal weaknesses and mistakes from each other

·         Hesitate to ask for help or feedback

·         Jump to conclusions about other’s intentions

·         Don’t offer help outside of their own areas of responsibility

·         Fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills

Teams that have trust:

·         Admit weaknesses and mistakes, ask for help

·         Give one another the benefit of the doubt

·         Take risks in offering feedback and assistance

·         Accept questions and input about their work

·         Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills

·         Offer and accept apologies

·         Look forward to opportunities to work as a group

From $200 a Week to a $30 Billion Valuation: What Airbnb Can Teach Us About Trust

A great example of how trust can benefit a team can be seen in the now uber successful Airbnb. In 2009, Airbnb was close to going bust with only $200/week in revenue. Searching for answers outside of data, they noticed a pattern – the listing photos were bad. Without any data to back it up, the co-founders decided to travel to NYC, rent a pro camera & take pictures of listings. Revenue doubled within a week.

Without trust, the founders wouldn’t have been willing to try out an idea that had no data to back it up. In fact, they probably wouldn’t have shared that idea if they didn’t trust each other. And this idea prevented them from throwing in the towel. Now with the company valued at $30 billion, their trust was worth its weight in gold.

Now that the founders of Airbnb have seen the great benefit of trusting new ideas, and allowing for vulnerability, new hires are asked on day one to come up with new features to try out. They appreciate and tap into their employees’ skills and want them feel comfortable making mistakes. They’ve seen first-hand the benefits that can come from this type of team.

Sound Familiar?

If you’re reflecting on your team and realizing it might be lacking in trust—don’t run for the hills just yet. Trust isn’t a “you have it or you don’t” thing—it’s something that takes effort and awareness. If you find yourself in a team suffering from lack of trust, try these three tips. You can start using these tips as soon as today to help get your team on track!

Three Tips for Developing Trust at Work

1. Be Honest

·         Tell the truth

·         Be honest when sharing information, even if it it’s to your disadvantage

·         Use truthful nonverbal communication

·         Experts say more than half communication is nonverbal

·         Look people in the eye, use open body language

2. Communicate Openly

·         Talk to your team members in an honest, meaningful way

·         Listen deeply for what’s being said, and not being said

·         If you have important or relevant information, share it immediately with the team

·         Meet face to face regularly

3. Meet face to face regularly

·         Share personal stories

·         Ask questions (sensitively) about colleague’s family, hobbies, where they’ve lived, etc.

·         Don’t underestimate casual social activities after work

So let’s get back to Emmanuelle’s team—the team that for two months straight hasn’t reached their sales goals.

If the marketing assistant had trusted his manager, he would have asked for help with the pitch deck, knowing that he wouldn’t be reproached. He wouldn’t have hidden the fact that he didn’t know what he was doing. And if his manager trusted the team, she wouldn’t be only focusing on her goals, while ignoring the goals of the team. She would have made it a priority to check in with the assistant, knowing his inexperience warrants a little extra attention, for the benefit of everyone involved.

Imagine how this situation would have turned out if the team had trust—the deck would have been completed well and on time, the account director wouldn’t have had to drop his responsibilities to stay up all night and fix a deck. Instead, he would have been well rested and prepared to land a new client. And you know what? They may have a large luxury hotel brand on their roster—if only they had trusted each other.

Do you have trust at work? Yes or no, how can you tell? Let’s talk about it.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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The Ultimate Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Millennials

 

There are currently 80 million Millennials in the United States, and soon they will make up the majority of the employee population. Why? For one, Baby Boomers, which make up 40 percent of today’s U.S. workforce, will be leaving the workforce in the next decade. Secondly, this year the Millennial generation (born between 1981-2001) is projected to surpass the Baby Boomer generation as the nation’s largest living generation. That said, it’s crucial for your organization to know how to recruit and retain Millennials.

TINYpulse has put together a fantastic guidebook on this very topic called, The Ultimate Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Millennials. Not only is it chock-full of helpful insights and information, it’s also engaging and well written. I am proud to say that I am quoted in the guide.

The Ultimate Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Millennials* covers topics such as creating a transparent culture, embracing social responsibility, living your company values, supporting career development, creating an effective onboarding plan, and more. I am quoted in chapter 15, which talks about opening a virtual suggestion box.

Opening Up a Virtual Suggestion Box

The good news is, our days of traditional (awkward) suggestion boxes have come to an end. Technology has come to the rescue with simple online surveys and web platforms that offer more anonymity to employees who would like to share their ideas and solutions. That is what a virtual suggestion box is.

This is a great idea for the Millennial generation, also known as Generation Y. Why? Because it is very important to them to have a voice in their community, and community is a core element in the lives of this generation.

Also, Gen Y was born with a mouse in its hand. Consequently, they are tech-savvy and expect information to be “downloaded” immediately, including their ideas and suggestions.

They were the first generation to have family meetings and safety laws enforced with bike helmets, car seats, and seat belt laws. The message from this was “You are special. We value you.” Consequently, this generation values connections and wants to be part of a community at home, work, and play. They will work with their friends at the same company if they feel it’ll allow them more time with their community. Having a voice in their community is important to Gen Y. They have the confidence to articulate their vision and the tech skills to create their vision. Now they need you to support them in listening to their vision.

If only we could jump 50 years ahead– just for a day– to see how this generation will have transformed the workplace. Preparing your organization to successfully recruit and retain the Millennial generation is not only imperative, it’s exciting.

Let’s have a little fun. Pretend you have a virtual suggestion box where you can leave an idea or suggestion for every organization in the country. What is one idea and/or suggestion that all U.S. organizations need to hear? I can’t wait to read.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Why Accountability is a Must For Teamwork and How To Create It

 

“Courtney really gets on my nerves,” Mario said to his coworker Amira. The two were sitting in the commissary, trays of food in front of them, ready to eat lunch.

“She has to be ‘miss perfect’ and flaunt finishing her projects,” Mario continued. “Yet getting her work done before everyone else doesn’t satisfy her—she continually asks other people if they’ve finished their projects yet. It’s like she wants to toss us under the bus every chance she gets.”

“She’s obviously maneuvering for a promotion. Hopefully, she’ll get it soon and we can work in peace,” Amira replied. The two began to eat their lunch, Mario wearing an expression of agitation, and Amira simply looking disinterested.

“Ravi on the other hand does absolutely nothing,” said Mario with a sigh.

“I can’t believe Tanya hasn’t said anything to him, even after he missed the RFP deadline. What kind of manager is she? I wish she’d crack down on him,” responded Amira now wearing Mario’s look of agitation on her face.

“Have you finished updating the client files?” Mario asked Amira.

“Not yet,” she replied. “Have you finished the research you were working on?”

“Not yet,” Mario said, bored at the thought of the research. “It will get done eventually.”

“Yeah, we finish when we finish,” Amira said as she stood up with her tray, headed to the trash bin, and prepared herself to get back to work.

Back in the office, Tanya, the team manager, is frustrated. Only one person on her team, Courtney, actually meets deadlines. And now the department head is coming down on her, accusing her of not managing her team properly. How can she get her team to get their work done?

Let’s start by identifying the major problem that is affecting the productivity of this team: lack of accountability.

This Team Has a Problem: Lack of Accountability

The business dictionary defines accountability as “the obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and disclose the results in a transparent manner.” It’s simple: to be accountable to a team, a person needs to be clear about what they plan to do, execute on that thing, and let the team know when it’s done.

But when it comes to teams, accountability must go both ways. For a team to function well, an individual is not only obligated to be accountable, they need to hold their coworkers accountable too. That means consistently asking for updates on clearly defined goals, and openly sharing their own updates. Yet holding others accountable is difficult because it can cause interpersonal discomfort. Patrick Lencioni writes, “Once we achieve clarity and buy-in, it is then that we have to hold each other accountable for what we sign up to do, for high standards of performance and behavior. And as simple as that sounds, most executives hate to do it, especially when it comes to a peer’s behavior.”

In the team above, Courtney is the only one holding herself and others accountable. And she is definitely facing interpersonal discomfort.

The Facts About Accountability in Business

Although being accountable is vital to teamwork, organizations across industries struggle with accountability. Take a look at these statistics:

·         93% of employees don’t really understand what their organization is trying to accomplish in order to align with their own work.

·         85% of leaders aren’t defining what their people should be working on — and an equal number of employees crave clarity.

·         84% of the workforce describes itself as “trying but failing” or “avoiding” accountability, even when employees know what to fix.

·         80% of people see accountability as punishing

These are not small numbers! It looks like many organizations could use a lesson in accountability. Let’s take a look at what teams that hold each other as accountable look like, versus teams that do not.

Accountable Teams and Unaccountable Teams: What do they look like?

Teams That Are Not Accountable

·         Create resentment among team members who have different standards of performance

·         Encourage mediocrity

·         Miss deadlines

·         Put disproportionate pressure on leaders to discipline

Teams That Are Accountable

·         Make sure poor performers feel pressure to improve

·         Identify problems quickly by questioning one another

·         Establish respect among team members who are held to same high standards

·         Avoid excessive bureaucracy around management and corrective actions

For a real-world example of the problems that come from unaccountable teams, let’s visit the coffeehouse giant, Starbucks.

What Starbucks Can Teach Us About Accountability

During the economic slowdown of 2008, Starbucks took a hit—600 stores closed and profit fell 28%. Leadership during that time blamed the economy and increased price of dairy for the slump. That was until Howard D. Shultz came back as CEO after leaving eight years prior. He held leadership accountable rather than blaming things that can’t be controlled, like the economy and dairy prices. He said, “Starbucks’s heavy spending to accommodate its expansion has created a bureaucracy that masked its problems.”

His solution? To create a strategy that developed brand trust. The initiative, called “My Starbucks Idea,” created a way for customers to share ideas directly with the company and with each other. After 1.3 million users on social media shared 93 million ideas, the program was a success and Starbucks pulled out of its slump. Had Shultz not held the company accountable, it’s unlikely the leadership team would have solved the problem.

So what can you do if you find yourself on a team that is not accountable and Howard Shultz isn’t around? Try these three tips:

Tips For Creating Accountability

1. Set Team Goals and Team Rewards

·         People are less likely to watch someone fail if the entire team is at stake

·         The enemy of accountability is ambiguity

2. Ask Questions, Stress Inquiry

·         Agree on goals and then conduct inquiry-oriented dialogue. Questions help people deconstruct the details and try alternatives without being defensive

3. Break goals into specific elements

·         Analyze the details that accumulate to produce either success or failure

·         This makes it easier to identify specific steps for improvement

·         It gives people pride in the elements that went well

·         Helping the team see strengths and weaknesses holds others accountable to improvement

Going back to Mario, Amira, Ravi, Tanya, and Courtney’s team, we can see clear signs of a lack of accountability. Mario and Amira resent Courtney for having a different standard of performance. They even encourage each other’s mediocrity with statements like, “we finish when we finish.” The two blame their manager, Tanya, for Ravi’s missed deadline, expecting her to discipline rather than holding their team accountable. And from what Tanya says, the team misses deadlines all the time.

What if they were more accountable? Mario, Amira, and Ravi would feel pressure from the team to improve. They’d identify what stood in their way by asking questions and resolving problems quickly. They’d even strip some of the bureaucracy away, by not relying on management’s use discipline to get things done. All of this would help establish respect among the team, which would now be holding each other to higher standards. And what do higher standards mean? Better performance.

Have you ever worked on a team that lacked accountability? What was it like? I’d love to hear about it.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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How To Influence Others Without Authority

 

Have you ever tried asking for support from someone who is not interested in helping you? Or maybe you have an idea that you’re sure will take your team to the next level, but you can’t get anyone on board? These are common frustrations in the workplace… maybe even at home!

When you don’t have authority over others, it can be difficult to get them to help you or take your ideas seriously. But you’re not out of the weeds even if you do have authority! According to Allan R. Cohen and David L. Bradford, authors of “Influence Without Authority,” having authority can actually present problems. Why? Because it doesn’t always mean people will follow and support you. Instead, authority can create fear, and can potentially motivate people for the wrong reasons.

The common denominator here is the impact that authority has on influence. Learning to influence without authority is vital for both those who don’t have any, and those that do. So how do you do it? That’s is where the Cohen-Bradford Influence Model comes in.

The Influence Model: Six Steps

The Influence Model, also known as the Cohen-Bradford Influence Model, was created by Allan R. Cohen and David L. Bradford. It consists of six steps. Let’s take a look at each step, and then go through an example in detail.

Here are the 6 steps to the Cohen-Bradford Influence Model:

1.       Assume That Everyone Can Help You

Keep in mind that every single person around you has something unique to bring to the table and could be a great ally. Give everybody a fair chance to prove their value including the most challenging person in the room. Always take the first step to trust the people around you.

2.       Prioritize Objectives

You have to stay focused and remember the very reason why you want to influence these people. What is the benefit of having these people on your side? What is your ultimate goal?

Stay on track and do not confuse your work goal with your personal feelings or motives. Strong emotions such as wanting to “be right” can easily take over and distract you away from what is important, so remain focused on your work goal.

3.       Understand the Other Person’s Situation

Understanding where the other person is coming from is the key in identifying what drives them. Listening to what they have to say will not only make you understand where they are coming from but most importantly, where they would like to go from there.

4.       Identify What Matters, to You and to Them

If you take your time hearing the other person, you will understand exactly what is truly important to them; knowing what he or she values most is likely to be the determining factor in this model.

5.       Analyze the Relationship

Ask yourself: What kind of relationship do you share with this person at this time? Are you comfortable enough to ask what you need from him or her?

If you’re still at the early stage of your relationship, you may need to start by establishing trust and then start building up your relationship from there before you make the “exchange”, which is the final step.

Develop your communication skills by paying attention and using active listening techniques during conversations. Use your emotional intelligence and consider what each person is feeling.

6.       Make the “Exchange”

It’s time to put the model to work. Establish what you have to offer that is valuable to your ally and then make “the exchange”.

Remember to keep building your relationship with mutual respect for each other. Stay engaged by continuously trusting, understanding, and empathizing with the other person. Make sure to show how thankful you are and always look for more ways on how you can help them.

Check out this video for even more insight into the Influence Model

 

Now let’s take a look at an example.

Here is an example…

An Example of Influencing Without Authority 

Jay has been assigned as lead for a cross functional team to develop a new organizational strategic plan. Each team member works in a different area of the company and comes to the team with their own expertise. They’ve been selected to collaborate and come up with a new strategic plan in a short amount of time.

Since this special task is outside of everyone’s primary duties, Jay finds it hard to schedule a time that would fit everyone. Mike, in particular, is currently working extra hours and therefore delaying the team’s progress. So, Jay applies the Influence Model:

1.       Assume That Everyone Can Help You

Jay recognizes that everybody has something valuable to offer; the first task for Jay is to hear what everyone has to say. Mike is not able to attend the meetings due to his heavy workload because he’s short-staffed.

2.       Prioritize Objectives

Jay’s objective is to create the best possible strategic plan while utilizing input from all of his teammates. Mike has the expertise Jay needs to make sure that their new strategic plan meets all requirements. 

 

3.       Understand the Other Person’s Situation

Jay can empathize with Mike. He knows that Mike’s been working extra hours because they are short staffed and that Mike values whatever little time that is left for him to catch up with his family.

Jay knows the mental and physical stress of how Mike’s work schedule is impacting him. As a result, even though Mike understands that importance of this special project that he was assigned to be a part of, he is not happy giving up more of his personal time to work.

4.       Identify What Matters; to You and to Them

Jay knows that Mike is passionate about his field of work, is a great asset to the company, and has much to contribute to the strategic direction of the company. Jay has heard Mike is in the process of hiring a new person to share the workload with him, which would allow him to go back to his normal schedule and free up time to support the strategic plan development project. If only he could find time to go through the applications that he has on hand, to expedite the hiring process.

5.       Analyze the Relationship

Jay and Mike don’t see each other often since they work in different buildings but they know each other enough to know they are both from the west coast and share a love for college sports.

6.       Make the “Exchange”

Jay decides that it’s time to make his exchange. Jay will offer Mike his assistance in interviewing candidates to help expedite the hiring process. In return, Jay will ask for half a day of Mike’s time to catch up on what he’s missed so far in the strategic plan development, then participate regularly in the team meetings.

Mike was surprised to hear Jay’s offer, but he accepts without any hesitations. Jay showed his appreciation by showing up early and took his time by going through each and every applicant seriously. Mike in return showed up early the next day to help Jay; the two came up with Mike’s strategic plan input faster than they both expected. Jay then showed his gratitude by buying Mike a craft beer from the west coast.

The next time you want to influence others, give these six steps a try. You may find that influencing isn’t as hard as you think! I have a bonus tip for you as well: Be sure to use your EQ. Here’s what I mean.

What challenges have you run into when attempting to influence others? I’d love to troubleshoot with you.

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

 

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