Warren leads a highly effective manufacturing team. Each team member knows their role and performs their role on the team at the highest level. Ryan, a team member, prepares the raw materials for the first stage of development. Rose, another team member, is responsible for stage two of the manufacturing process. Rose had a personal matter to address in the afternoon on Tuesday and would needs leave early. Upon her request, Ryan agreed to help Rose by completing her tasks while she was out for the afternoon. Ryan began to help Rose but quickly realized that he couldn’t keep up with his own work. After an hour, Ryan gave up on Rose’s work as he could barely keep up with his own responsibilities. Work began to pile up at Rose’s station. Seven other team members on the production floor were now at a standstill because they relied on Rose’s output to complete their own work. When she returned, the next morning, Rose realized that Ryan had not helped her as he agreed. Although these responsibilities were outside of Ryan’s team role, it is critical that each team member maintain the big picture of the team goal in their mind and not just one’s own individual role. Ryan didn’t consider the impact that his actions would have on the level of team trust at the plant.
When Rose saw that Ryan had not kept his promise, she immediately felt a sense of distrust for him. She did not care about his reason for not keeping his word; she just knew that he had not kept it. The trust that the team had developed over the course of the project was shattered in an instant. Trust is something that is difficult to develop over long periods of time and easy to lose in an instant. When asked how to define trust, Nicole, a fourth grade student said “I used to think trust is like not telling a secret that your friend tells you, but it’s much more than that. Trust is doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it and being there for someone who is counting on you.”
Managers must make a commitment to developing trust on their work teams. It is essential that managers put their employees in a position to develop team trust through exercises. Developing trust on a team is a lot like building muscle. You can’t develop muscle unless you make a commitment to the gym every day. You can’t develop trust unless you exercise that muscle each day. Building trust takes effort.
photo cred: http://www.flickr.com/photos/genvessel/431100596/
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