Why Trust is Essential in High Performance Teams

High performance teams are built on a foundation of trust. Trust allows team members to feel safe to take risks, be vulnerable and share ideas openly. When trust is present, team members are more likely to be engaged and committed to the team’s success.

Trust is essential for high performance teams because:

· Trust enables team members to feel safe to take risks.

· Trust allows team members to be vulnerable and share ideas openly.

· When trust is present, team members are more likely to be engaged and committed to the team’s success.

Building trust within a team takes time and effort. It starts with each individual team member making a commitment to being open, honest and respectful. As team members build trust with each other, they will be better equipped to handle challenging situations and achieve high levels of performance.

3 Ways to Build Trust

Develop Team Members

For trust to develop within senior leadership teams, members must be competent and dependable in their performance. High performance team development is an integral part of establishing skills and building trust. When teams are confident in their ability to overcome challenges, they are more likely to be successful in the risks they take.

“When there’s trust present on a team everyone has greater commitment towards achieving success.”

Foster A Sense of Belonging

When team members feel like they belong to something larger than themselves, they are more likely to trust the people around them. A sense of belonging can be fostered  by instilling a shared purpose within the team. This could be done through project-based work or setting common goals that everyone is working towards. One of the advantages of high performance team programs is that it provides the opportunity for teams to develop a deeper understanding of one another and ways of using that understanding to achieve goals.  As team members feel more connected to each other and the team’s purpose, trust will begin to develop.

Building trust within a team is essential for high performance. It enables members to feel safe and confident about taking risks, being vulnerable with one another in order to produce creative ideas that will meet goals. When there’s trust present on a team everyone has greater commitment towards achieving success. Trust takes time and effort to develop, but it is worth it in order to build a strong, high-performing team.

About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.