9 Tips for Restoring Trust Within Your Work Group
1. Acknowledge that trust has been eroded and that it may take it a while before we develop the confidence in each other that we had before. Restate the purpose of the group and what is required for success.
2. Expect that restoring trust will happen slowly and there will be times of encouragement and discouragement; sometimes it will seem like you are making no progress.
3. Keep up the structure of meeting and talking to each other, even though it is uncomfortable at times. Continue the agenda process and meeting minutes. They are all ingredients in a smoothly operating team; don't give up on them.
4. Make sure commitments are kept, even if they are around seemingly insignificant issues. Demonstrate to each other that the group has the capability of being reliable; initially around small issues; later, larger, more impactful ones.
5. Listen to each other...I mean, really listen. Respond in a way that assures the speaker that they were heard.
6. Be transparent. Share all the information, not just the good news. You may want to avoid more difficulty but the path to restoring trust is built on a renewed commitment to the truth.
7. Demonstrate support, concern and encouragement for every member of the group. Some of this can take place within the group sessions; at other terms this concern may be best expressed in 1:1 conversation. The effort here is to move the experience of group members with each other in a positive direction.
8. When a member demonstrates even a small effort to renew their accountability and commitment to the group, acknowledge their effort and express your appreciation; they have begun to model the behavior required to re-build trust and that should be reinforced.
9. At every other meeting ask the group for their feedback about how things are going in the group. Ask them for suggestions as to how you could improve as the group leader. Stress the importance of members giving each other feedback as to their performance in the group; these should not be personal attacks but rather positive suggestions as to what is required of each member in order for trust to be restored and make the group more functional.
Larry Wengerr
