A team is a group of people, each one influencing the effectiveness of the whole. A team is successful when they have a trusting relationship with their manager.

==>What is trust?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides several definitions though this is probably the one that is most familiar:

Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b: one in which confidence is placed.

What that means to me as a manger is that my character is important in building a successful team. Sounds like a tall order, yet there are skills that you can learn that will help you.

I like the "emotional bank account" coined by Stephen Covey in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." What makes building an emotional bank account with your employees so great is because it's a concept we understand. We build financial bank accounts by adding money into our account. Covey states, "....make deposits through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a reserve. Your trust toward me becomes higher, and I can call upon that trust many times if I need to."

==>Here are some basic steps to building trust with your employees:

Be Honest

Tell the truth, as best as you know it. If you don't know the answer, let them know you will research the question. This is basic respect that we offer others and ourselves in our interactions.

Keeping Your Commitments

A manager that consistently follows up when they say or gives an update builds trust naturally with their employees.

Handle Mistakes Respectfully

Everyone makes mistakes! Choose your words wisely when you are handling a mistake with an employee. First of all, always discuss the issue in private and be upbeat about the problem.

Listen, Listen, Listen

This is such an important skill to develop as a manager and one that is the most challenging to master. Why? First of all, I believe we don't listen to ourselves, so it can be a bit daunting to listen to others. Yet, we must learn to listen to others to build our reservoir of trust with our team members.

Treat All With Respect

Yes, you will have employees that are much easier to interact with...that's normal. It happens in all relationships. The skill you need to acquire here is to master your emotions, treat all team members fairly and equal. Equal doesn't have to be exact. Equality is based on respect for what each individual brings to your team.

There is skill to building trust with employees. Once you learn and practice the aspects of building trust, you will experience a change in your employees. If your relationship has been shaky with your employees, it will take time.

Try This!

Take some time to evaluate how you build trust with your employees. What is the one thing you do now that increases the trust levels with your team members? Then what is one action that decreases their trust levels with you.

As managers we make mistakes, yet if we keep depositing into the "emotional bank account," employees are flexible with us.

Copyright (c) 2008 Pat Brill