6 ways to build trust in the workplace

The wellbeing of your team relies on trust.

When people trust each other, they’re more likely to be open to collaboration and sharing.

Here are 6 quick ways you may build a culture of trust in your team.

1. Empower your people

People want to come to work with a purpose. This means, they understand their roles and responsibilities.

But it also means they can do their job on their own.

Ask the people in your team what empowering means to them. Then adapt your management style to support them.

As a people manager, you may have to make decisions that have a negative or positive impact on the team.

Regardless of the type of impact, be open and transparent on decisions or changes.

By doing this, you’ll show integrity as a people manager and that you treat each person with respect.

If you agree to something or commit to an action, try as hard as you can to stick to it.

If you can’t stick to it or you need to change what you agreed, be open with your team about why.

Explain to your staff what’s happening in as much detail as you can.

This means they’ll know what’s going on and that you act with integrity.

As a people manager, you may have people in your team you get on with more than others.

But you must resist your natural urge to treat them in a more favourable way.

Call out someone’s success when they deserve it but don’t praise the same person each time.

You don’t need an actual door to have an open-door policy. It means being available to your staff when they need you inside working hours.

It cuts down the formality of them only speaking to you in forums such as a regular team meeting.

Encourage your team to be open with their communication and feedback. Remind them you have an open-door policy.

You’re busy as a people manager. You may not have enough time in the day to get through all your tasks.

This opens the temptation to check your emails or be on your phone in meetings.

But you must resist this if someone in your team wants to speak with you.

If you’re with a team member, give them your full attention and put your phone away.

This shows you respect them and what they have to say.