Better Software - September 2008 - (Page 40) “In a non-trusting environment, people spend a lot of time protecting themselves. It’s no wonder teams without trust exhibit low productivity.” sional behavior. What do you do about those who are “gaming the system,” where team members leverage the leader to discredit another team member? This rarely exists in a healthy team—one that is collaborative and in which team members understand and respect each other’s contributions, remain focused, and have ownership. But you don’t have that, yet. To get there, take the “fun” out of dysfunction. Remove the reward people are getting for playing games within the team. When someone causes distractions, such as asking rhetorical questions with no real purpose—trying to impress you with the “right answer” or embarrass you if you make a mistake—ignore this behavior. Stand quietly and do not say a word, or look to others in the room and change the subject. Remember, negative attention can be its own reward. assistance in discovering their own direction as it relates to their current project. • Protect the Team Boundaries. Be your team’s advocate. Get the team what it needs to succeed, and don’t let the distractions of corporate bureaucracy and politics creep into the work environment. • Stay Positive. The team needs acknowledgement, feedback, and recognition. Affirm what is working. Don’t dwell on past failures or anything that could possibly be interpreted as judgmental. Negative feedback will be blown out of proportion, and its effects may take a long time to repair. Summary We know teams deliver great results when they take ownership. After working with a team on setting goals and objectives, leaders must step back and let the team work. You can’t do this without trust. It is essential in engaging teams, retaining talent, fostering innovation, creating great working environments, and delivering results. When the trust goes out of a team, what can a leader do? Hard as it may be, you must decide what to do when one member of the team has broken trust with the others. It really does not matter how it happened. To keep such a person on your team is costly. You must decide if it is better—or not—to take the person off the team. If you keep that person, you and the rest of the team must decide how to work with him. As the leader, make sure you trust or can build trust with everyone on your team. Be transparent and show you are open to new ideas and different ways of thinking. Practice collaborative leadership; give up micromanagement and command and control. Leaders cannot make people trust each other, but leaders can create not only a culture that encourages trust but also one in which trust flourishes and thrives. {end} rEfErEncEs: 1] Hurley, Robert F. The Decision to Trust. Harvard Business Review, September 2006. 2] Benson-Armer, Richard and Stickel, Darryl. Successful Team Leadership Is Built on Trust. IVEY Business Journal, May/June 2000. The Lack of Trust “Price Tag” Why should you expend the effort to create a culture of trust? Look at the transaction costs—the number of decisions and actions you make interacting with someone or something. How long does it take you to get a task done by someone you don’t trust? There is the preparation time, during which you figure out how to approach this person and how to clearly state your request. In the conversation, how many times did you say the same thing in different ways to ensure you were heard? How many times did you check to make sure that he correctly heard what you said? How often did you check to see if he will deliver what and when he said he would? The transaction costs of distrust are high. In a non-trusting environment, people spend a lot of time protecting themselves. It’s no wonder teams without trust exhibit low productivity. www.StickyMinds.com Helping the Process Along The team’s efforts to build trust will have their ups and downs. Here are a few things you can do to help that process move forward: • Focus on Purpose. Team members don’t get to do whatever they want, whenever they want. But they do need time for exploration of their ideas and possible solutions. When chaos has gone on too long, step in and ask questions to help the team get back on track. Ask, don’t tell. Team members don’t need to be told what direction to go; they need 40 BETTER SOFTWARE SEPTEMBER 2008 http://www.StickyMinds.com
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