Building Trust in Collaborative Environments

I once worked with a team that was, quite frankly, toxic. The same two team members routinely derailed meeting agendas. Eye-rolling was a primary form of communication. Side conversations overtook the official discussion. Most members had disengaged, emotionally checking out while physically present. Trust was nonexistent. This wasn't just unpleasant—it was preventing meaningful work from happening. The transformation began with a deceptively simple intervention: establishing clear community agreements. Not generic "respect each other" platitudes, but specific behavioral norms with concrete descriptions of what they looked like in practice. The team agreed to norms like "Listen to understand," "Speak your truth without blame or judgment," and "Be unattached to outcome." For each norm, we articulated exactly what it looked like in action, providing language and behaviors everyone could recognize. More importantly, we implemented structures to uphold these agreements. A "process observer" role was established, rotating among team members, with the explicit responsibility to name when norms were being upheld or broken during meetings. Initially, this felt awkward. When the process observer first said, "I notice we're interrupting each other, which doesn't align with our agreement to listen fully," the room went silent. But within weeks, team members began to self-regulate, sometimes even catching themselves mid-sentence. Trust didn't build overnight. It grew through consistent small actions that demonstrated reliability and integrity—keeping commitments, following through on tasks, acknowledging mistakes. Meeting time was protected and focused on meaningful work rather than administrative tasks that could be handled via email. The team began to practice active listening techniques, learning to paraphrase each other's ideas before responding. This simple practice dramatically shifted the quality of conversation. One team member later told me, "For the first time, I felt like people were actually trying to understand my perspective rather than waiting for their turn to speak." Six months later, the transformation was remarkable. The same team that once couldn't agree on a meeting agenda was collaboratively designing innovative approaches to their work. Conflicts still emerged, but they were about ideas rather than personalities, and they led to better solutions rather than deeper divisions. The lesson was clear: trust doesn't simply happen through team-building exercises or shared experiences. It must be intentionally cultivated through concrete practices, consistently upheld, and regularly reflected upon. Share one trust-building practice that's worked well in your team experience. P.S. If you’re a leader, I recommend checking out my free challenge: The Resilient Leader: 28 Days to Thrive in Uncertainty  https://lnkd.in/gxBnKQ8n

Scaling a startup isn’t just about processes—it’s about trust. I’ve had the privilege of working with startup teams ranging from seed (Tiny Earth Toys) to scale (Invisible Technologies) to post-IPO (Wayfair). One lesson stands out: trust is the cornerstone of scaling and innovation. In fast-paced environments, communication breaks down, priorities shift, and silos form. The organizations that thrive are the ones that prioritize trust—between leaders, teams, and individuals. I’ve seen the positive impact of trust firsthand. In one instance, we faced a challenge where meetings took up 15% of operational time, slowing productivity. By creating a space for team leads to share ideas and drive improvements, we identified ways to work more asynchronously and reduced meeting time to under 5%. But I’ve also seen what happens when trust is lacking. I’ve spent hours overthinking emails, afraid of making a mistake that could lead to public criticism. The fear slowed communication and stifled collaboration, teaching me the importance of fostering an environment where people believe in each other’s good intentions and abilities, even when mistakes happen. Here’s what I’ve learned about building a culture of trust: 1️⃣ Transparency wins trust. Share company metrics, wins, and struggles openly. When people see the bigger picture, they align better. 2️⃣ Empathy drives resilience. High-growth environments are tough. Supporting your team during challenges creates a community where people bring their best. 3️⃣ Ownership sparks creativity. Trust your team to own their work. Autonomy leads to solutions you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. 4️⃣ Trust drives speed. When people believe in each other’s commitment and expertise, communication flows faster, and innovation thrives—even in the face of challenges. Whether you’re in a startup or a global company, trust isn’t just nice-to-have—it’s the foundation for growth, resilience, and success. What’s one way your team has built or rebuilt trust? I’d love to hear your stories!

'My executives are all A-players. They just don't trust each other.' That's what a $60M CEO told me over coffee this morning. His revenue was up 40%, but his leadership team was falling apart. Sound familiar? Here's the counterintuitive truth I've learned after working with dozens of scaling companies: High performers often create low trust. Not because they're untrustworthy, but because they're too capable. Think about it. When you stack your leadership team with ambitious, competent executives, each one is used to being 'the person with the answers.' They've built careers on being right. But scaling a business isn't about being right. It's about being aligned. Last month, I watched a Chief Revenue Officer and COO nearly sink a $100M deal. Not because either was wrong - both had valid concerns. But their inability to trust each other's judgment created decision paralysis. The real cost of low trust: - 3x longer decision cycles - Duplicated efforts across departments - Missed market opportunities - Rising stress, falling margins Your smartest executives are often your biggest trust barriers because: - They have the strongest opinions - They're used to being proven right - They've succeeded through individual excellence - They struggle with shared vulnerability Want to build trust between high performers? Start here: ✅ Create shared defeats, not just shared victories. Nothing builds trust like failing together and recovering stronger. ✅ Stop celebrating individual heroes. Start rewarding collaborative wins. ✅ Make decisions visible. Trust grows in transparency and dies in darkness. ✅ Build accountability around team outcomes, not departmental metrics. Remember: You don't have a trust problem. You have an alignment challenge. Your executives don't need trust falls. They need a compelling reason to depend on each other. Curious: Have you ever had a high-performing team that struggled with trust? What turned it around? hashtag#Leadership hashtag#OrganizationalDevelopment hashtag#ExecutiveTeam

Trust among teams is essential for the delivery of outstanding collaborative care. Here are four ways we support an atmosphere of trust at Northwestern Medicine. 1. Use consistent messaging. When workforce members hear different things from different people, or hear nothing at all from their leaders, they may not know what to believe. Unified messaging from leaders to staff members gives the workforce confidence to trust what they hear. How we do it: Quarterly leadership sessions help disseminate important messages for leaders to reinforce with their teams, and my CEO monthly messages ensure the entire workforce gets the same information about key topics. Our chief nursing officer also sends a monthly message to the nursing staff, which makes up about a quarter of our workforce. 2. Ask for and respond to feedback. Being open to input from everyone across the organization ensures that people feel they have a voice in the work they do; following up on that input helps them trust that they are valued and respected. How we do it: In addition to engagement surveys and focus groups, staff have access to a general feedback form and a form for submitting breakthrough ideas. Input is shared with leaders for follow-up. 3. Reinforce a values-based leadership model. For the workforce to trust that the organization is committed to its foundational values, leaders need to set the example for staff to follow. How we do it: We have four values at Northwestern Medicine: Excellence, Teamwork, Integrity and Putting Patients First. We have robust internal training resources to help our leaders understand what the values look like in practice, and annual evaluations are tied to adherence to the values. 4. Encourage staff to get to know each other. When colleagues get to know each other, they understand each other better – their motivations, their challenges and their goals. Understanding builds trust. How we do it: We have workforce resource groups, special-interest groups, mentorship programs, a workforce volunteer team, optional workforce outings and IGNITE (Inspiring Growth, Networking, Improvement, Togetherness and Engagement) groups that bring together colleagues from across the organization to learn about each other, bond over shared interests, and support personal and professional growth. To encourage conversation, I have also launched an internal video series called One Big Question, in which a workforce member and I get together and ask each other one thought-provoking question about our work at Northwestern Medicine. My hope is that this video series will spark similar discussions among teams across the organization. Trust – between patients and care teams, leaders and staff, and co-workers – is part of what makes Northwestern Medicine better. #NMBetter

Trust is built through small, consistent interactions. I was coaching a leader today who realized their efforts to implement a new business approach and processes have shifted their team culture to be fully task-focused. They are feeling less connected to their people and sense they don't truly know how people feel at work. Do team members feel engaged? Are they motivated to do their work? Do they trust the direction the leadership is going? This is such an important awareness this leader tuned into. Interpersonal connection creates a foundation of trust to get the work done even more efficiently and collaboratively. The good news is that trust can be strengthened through small, consistent behaviors. A few steps to boost trust and connection with a team in small ways: 🌟 Acknowledge the current reality and the shift you want to see. Own up to the way you have contributed to a culture that has not invested in helping people feel socially connected. Share the kind of culture you want to move toward creating, where people feel seen and engaged. 🌟 Create regular rhythms. Build moments to personally connect into pre-existing rhythms. A few examples are: 🙌 Start meetings with a space to share weekly wins. What do people want to celebrate? 🙌 Do an online check in at the start of the day. If you primarily interact online, ask people to share a word about how they're feeling that day or a highlight from their week so far. 🙌 Plan in-person check ins. If you work in-person or in a hybrid environment, intentionally set days/times to walk through the physical space when your people are in, so you can see how they're doing. 🙌 If you're fully digital, consider integrating a personal check in at the beginning of regular one-on-one meetings. 🙌 Let team members share. This could be as simple as taking two minutes to answer a question like, "What is one work accomplishment you're most proud of?" or "You can come to me for help with..." in the chat or an in-person meeting. 🌟 Assess your system. If senior leaders model only talking about tasks, if people are rewarded only for completing tasks, if the majority of meetings focus only around tasks, then your system will not support efforts to value and grow the people doing those tasks. Consider how to model, reward, and talk about social connections. How else do you create trust-building rhythms in your teams and organizations? #leadership #connection #trustiskey __________________________________ If you're looking for support to help your organization build trust and create rhythms and systems that build psychological safety and innovation, let's connect!

Trust is a cornerstone of any successful organization. When there is strong trust, it enables innovation, collaboration, and progress across all levels. Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei highlights this in her TED Talk on building trust, where she explains how trust can propel human and organizational development. Three essential elements for building trust are outlined: 1. Empathy: True empathy requires active listening and full presence when others share their perspectives. Genuine empathy fosters understanding and strengthens bonds within a team. 2. Logic: For others to trust your decisions, your reasoning must be transparent. Present key points first, then back them up with supporting evidence to build credibility and ensure clear communication. 3. Authenticity: Encouraging team members to bring their authentic selves to work can be difficult, especially in environments that prioritize conformity. Leaders must foster an inclusive, safe space where authenticity is celebrated, and people feel valued for who they are. While these pillars are vital, I believe there's another indispensable element: Integrity. As General Counsel, integrity is the foundation of our work. Upholding the rule of law and acting with transparency and honesty are essential in building a culture of trust. "Do the right thing, always" isn't just something we say at Baker Hughes, it's a commitment to ensuring that every action reflects our values. Integrity is more than honesty; it's about care, respect, and good faith. Every team member, client, and stakeholder should trust that decisions are made in their best interest, without personal agendas. In law and business alike, integrity guides behavior. It reinforces trust and helps establish an organizational culture that is honest, resilient, and ethical. To watch the full Ted Talk video follow this link: https://lnkd.in/efgqJvrR #Trust #Leadership #Ethics #Integrity #GeneralCounsel #WeAreBakerHughes

In my experience, trust isn’t just given, it’s earned through consistent, intentional actions. Trust is the bedrock of any high-performing team, and without it, collaboration and innovation suffer. Here are some key behaviors that build trust in action: 📣 Deliver on Promises: Always follow through on your commitments. Reliability and consistency in meeting deadlines and fulfilling obligations show your team they can count on you. 📣 Communicate Transparently: Open and honest communication fosters trust. Share information freely, admit mistakes, and keep your team informed about changes and decisions. 📣 Show Empathy: Understand and respect your colleagues' perspectives and emotions. Being genuinely empathetic and supportive strengthens relationships and builds trust. 📣 Give Credit Where It’s Due: Recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of others. Acknowledging the hard work and successes of your team members builds a culture of trust and mutual respect. 📣 Be Authentic: Be yourself and show vulnerability. Authenticity helps others see you as trustworthy and relatable, fostering deeper connections. 📣 Listen Actively: Truly listen to what others have to say without interrupting or judging. Active listening demonstrates respect and shows that you value their input. 📣 Maintain Integrity: Always act ethically and stand by your principles, even when it’s difficult. Integrity is a cornerstone of trust. What behaviors have you found most effective in building trust within your team? Share your experiences and insights below! ---------- Hey, I'm Kevin, I am the founder of KEVRA: The Culture Company and provide daily posts and insights to help transform organizational culture and leadership. ➡️ Follow for more ♻️ Repost to share with others (or save for later) 🔗 Visit kevraconsulting.com to learn more

If I've learned one thing in my years of leadership, it's this: The success of your team will be largely determined by the trust you build with them. This applies to nearly every aspect of teamwork: Who you collaborate with. Who you solve problems with. Who you rely on during challenging times. Who you share successes and failures with. Achieving goals matters, but ultimately, it's the trust and relationships you build along the way that drive long-term success. Not convinced? Research consistently shows that high-trust organizations outperform others. Trust leads to better communication, increased collaboration, and a more engaged and motivated team. Here are 3 ways I’m making trust-building a priority in 2024: Open Communication:  ➟I encourage regular, honest conversations with my team, creating a safe space for them to share ideas, concerns, and feedback. Consistent Support:  ➟I make it a point to support my team members, providing the resources and assistance they need to succeed, and showing that I have their backs. Leading by Example:  ➟I practice transparency and integrity in all my actions, demonstrating the behaviors I expect from my team. Building trust isn't a one-time effort; it's an ongoing commitment. But the results—a cohesive, resilient, and high-performing team—are well worth it. How do you build trust with your team? Share your strategies below! #Leadership #TeamBuilding #Workplace #SuccessThroughTrust #HighPerformingTeams #WorkplaceCulture

Trust isn’t built with policies; it’s built with connection — even from a distance. Managing a remote team comes with its unique challenges. You don’t have the luxury of quick chats by the water cooler or those spontaneous moments that build camaraderie. Instead, trust becomes the foundation of everything. Because without it, nothing else can truly work. At Omni Digital, we’ve applied the same principles we use for our clients’ campaigns internally - building processes, systems, and culture that allow a distributed team to work seamlessly and achieve real results. In fact, the same focus on communication and trust that we use internally has helped us scale ad campaigns for clients, optimize creative strategies, and generate measurable growth across multiple industries. For us, building trust didn’t just mean setting clear goals and checking in regularly. It meant creating a space where team members felt seen, heard, and valued, even when we were all working from different parts of the world. One of the ways we do this is through something that’s been crucial to our success: team bonding. Months ago, we decided to invest in a self-funded team-building trip to Malaysia. No one was forced to go; everyone volunteered because they understood the power of coming together as a team outside of Zoom calls. It was one of the best decisions we’ve made. Here’s a picture from that trip. In a way, it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come — not just as colleagues, but as a team that has built trust over time, through shared experiences and mutual respect. When your team isn’t physically together every day, you can’t take trust for granted. It’s something that requires intentional effort. Here’s how we build it: 1.Open Communication: We make time for honest conversations, not just about work, but about how we’re feeling, what challenges we’re facing, and what drives us. 2.Empathy and Support: When you’re remote, empathy goes a long way. It’s about understanding personal lives and showing up for each other. 3.Shared Experiences: Whether it's a trip to Malaysia or a virtual coffee chat, creating moments where people can connect on a personal level strengthens the bond. Ultimately, building trust in a remote team comes down to one thing: intentionality. The more effort you put into connecting on a human level, the stronger the trust becomes. 👉 What’s worked for you in building trust with your team? How do you ensure everyone feels connected? At Omni Digital, trust is our backbone — and we’re proud to have a team that believes in each other, no matter the distance.