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Being reliable

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Supporting each other through growth and celebrations

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Trust falls

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Follow through on action items

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Holding meetings regularly, having an agenda and sticking to it, consistent, having norms and sticking to them

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As a facilitator, work harder, volunteer first, make life easier on my team.

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As a facilitator, work harder, volunteer first, make life easier on my team.

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Time spent with staff outside of school

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Leaving space and time for other people to speak in meetings. Keep your comments SHORT

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Everyone needs to be involved in creation and agree to follow them. Review them. Have them in front of you.

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Revisit action items at the next meeting

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Follow through with commitments

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Give teammates opportunities to take the lead, show their expertise, etc.

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Learning how to build trust at work is critical if you're going to be successful as an employee, a manager, or an effective leader. Oftentimes, the first step to building trust is building rapport.

If you don't have trust, it'll be more difficult to communicate and coordinate with your peers or colleagues.

You may get passed over for promotions in favor of someone more trustworthy. In extreme cases, a lack of trust can even bring down your entire team or organization.

Unfortunately, the truth is that most people haven't been taught how to build trust.

Thankfully, there are proven and effective ways to build trust in the workplace.

We'll take a look at a step-by-step process that you can use to start building trust in the workplace today. But first, let's quickly review the basics of trust and the two main types of trust.

The basics - what is trust?

You might not even be sure how to define trust. So let's start there. When we discuss trust, we are talking about:

Being able to have a sense of security and confidence when dealing with someone

Having the ability to predict that someone will act in specific ways and be dependable

Earning a level of credibility that has built up over time

Trust is a critical part of all interactions that we have as humans. It also plays an integral role in communicating in the workplace.

How long would you be the client of an accountant or lawyer if you didn't trust that they had your best interest at heart? How long would you stay in a relationship or maintain a friendship with someone you didn't trust?

But figuring out how to trust someone can also be as important as being trustworthy yourself.

Unfortunately, the statistics show that people trust each other less today than 40 years ago.

At an individual level, you need to have mutual trust with your romantic partners, family members, and friends.

The same is true in the workplace. You need to have a sense of trust built up with your coworkers. A high level of trust creates a more positive employee experience. It also leads to a more productive workplace where people feel safe and respected.

But we never get explicitly taught how to build trust in school or anywhere else. Learning how to trust is something we're just expected to develop as we grow up.

Some people naturally excel at building trust. For others, the trust-building process we'll discuss below may be entirely new.

Why should you care about trust at work?

When trust breaks down, you'll notice an obvious shift in how someone speaks and acts around you.

People who work at high-trust companies experience 74% less stress. The opposite is also true. A low-trust work environment can be stressful for everyone involved.

A boss or manager who doesn't trust you is less likely to give you freedom and flexibility to work on your own terms. They'll be more likely to micromanage you and carefully check your work.

Coworkers who don't trust you are unlikely to collaborate with you or help you out. You also likely won't get invited to after-work gatherings and events.

Building trust in teams from the beginning and maintaining it is crucial. Once your credibility starts to slip, people may see you as less reliable.

Since people are unlikely to befriend untrustworthy people, your perception at work may continue to fall.

Especially now, with more people working from home as part of a virtual team, trust is more important than ever. A remote team must have a high level of trust.

The two types of trust that you need to know

When we talk about building trust, there are actually two distinct types of trust that you should know about.

These types of trust are developed in different ways. Both are important and work together synergistically. So it's critical that you simultaneously develop both types of trust.

The two types are practical trust and emotional trust.

1. Practical trust

This is the more traditional type of trust, and the one that usually first comes to mind when thinking about how to trust someone.

You earn this kind of trust by being a hard-working employee. You show up on time. You get your work done and meet deadlines.

Earning this kind of trust will get you the reputation of being someone who's reliable and competent. When you say you'll do something, you actually do it.

Without this kind of trust, people will micromanage you. Communication can break down, and productivity will decrease.

Keep in mind: employers building trust with their staff is just as important as the other way around. Whether you're a manager or an entry-level employee, it's crucial that you build trust with those around you.

2. Emotional trust

People are less likely to be aware of this type of trust. You create emotional trust by going above and beyond what's expected of you, and creating meaningful bonds with your team. It requires a level of emotional intelligence.

Successful leaders tend to have higher levels of emotional intelligence, so this is definitely a good skill to start developing.

If you've ever had a best friend at work, then there's likely a lot of emotional trust between you.

You knew that you had each other's backs. You treated each other with respect. And you felt comfortable sharing ideas, thoughts, and feelings that you may not have expressed with other coworkers.

Building trust in this way is more complex as it doesn't follow a set formula. It's more about networking and relationship building.

Emotional trust is even something that can be built at an organizational level.

Take Netflix, for example. 70% of their employees on Glassdoor would recommend working at Netflix to a friend.

We would argue this is because Netflix hires with inclusivity and integrity in mind. Their employees work in a high-trust environment. They are also given more decision-making and information-sharing freedom.

Why building trust is crucial in any relationship

Learning how to build trust in the workplace (and anywhere else) is necessary if you want to create lasting relationships.

In romantic relationships, a lack of trust is one of the primary reasons for divorce. Learning how to trust someone again can be difficult after such a situation.

In the workplace, Millennials are 22x more likely to work for a company with a high trust culture.

Whether you're building trust in teams or between individuals, the end goal is the same. You want to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and helping each other out.

To have a sense of well-being and good mental health, we need to know that other people understand us and have our best interests at heart. This comes with having high levels of trust.

It gives us peace of mind to know that everyone is working together as a team.

Being trustworthy also makes you more likable. It makes you more likely to get promoted or be positively recommended by colleagues. It unlocks potential for new or faster growth within your company.

It's not just people that do better in high-trust environments either. Companies with high-trust workplace cultures perform nearly 2x better than the general market in terms of earnings.

Once trust is lost in any relationship, it can create an awkward feeling like something is off-balance.

Things just don't flow smoothly. Even if you can't quite put your finger on why. While trust initially takes time to build up, it's even harder to get back once you break it.

Ten of the most effective ways to build trust

People respect honesty.

Building trust doesn't happen overnight

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How to Build Trust in the Workplace: 10 Effective Solutions

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Learning how to build trust isn't always intuitive. Discover 10 actionable steps you can take to start building trust in the workplace.

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Being on time to meetings

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Anticipate team needs, do what you say you're going to do

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Delegate

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Keep meeting moving ahead and focused. Respect people's time

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Focus on the strengths of other people and areas they are credible and how they can impact the team. Give them opportunities to demonstrate credibility in that area.

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Follow through, actionable steps, they actually do it.

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Checking in on each other and their lives

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Ensure all team members have the same knowledge - Know what is going on and expected.

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Sharing weaknesses, issuing public apologies, keeping things authentic

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Predictability and consistency

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Know your teammates are rooting for you. Be vulnerable with each other. Facilitator has to start with it...let them see you vulnerable.

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coffee and snacks

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Take time to check-in with people and honor their perspective

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Seek and meet the needs of the team and be the voice for them.

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Active listening, allow space and time for everyone to give input

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Would you be willing to...?
I need...
This is a problem I am having, what would you do?
Model and build confidence
Admit when you are wrong

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Recognize, record, act on and revisit things that people bring up - especially when the people who are talking are not some of the stronger voices in the group

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Always bring snacks.

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Vulnerability and Support

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Humor and fun

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Effective communication