Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
Trust is a critical element of a constructive environment on a project. Without it, individuals likely will not maximize their contribution to the team. What traits/behaviors of the leader can generate trust among the team and encourage project process and advancement?
What are the ethical elements of supporting a trusting environment? What should a leader do and why?
Let's focus on the positive instead of what hasn't worked. Share your experiences. Let's talk about it. Saving Changes...
Douglas BoydQuantity Surveyor| CTP Consulting EngineersLiverpool, United Kingdom
Trust is gained through open and honest communication. When we make mistakes, as we all do, be open and honest about it. Silence generates suspicion and a lack of trust.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:20 PM
Valerie Denney
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Douglas, Great statement: silence generates suspicion and lack of trust. I would add that there are times where silence is NEEDED {my emphasis}. Say for example, there is a difficult decision to make and the project leader is gathering information before acting. The response to the team might be as simple as "I'm working to get more information and I will get back to you". Then there is silence.... and wait...and wait... but eventualy the project leader communicates the results to the team.
You also make a great about about admitting mistakes. Ouch. You are right, but it can be hard.
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Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I'm guessing someone has already said this, but you generate trust by being trustworthy first and foremost, and also by extending trust to others - not blindly but judiciously, to those who deserve your trust. When people see your trustworthiness and your good judgment, they will be much more willing to trust you.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:21 PM
Valerie Denney
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Eric,
Maybe others have said similar things, but it is so worth repeating. You bring that for trust to work, there are efforts on both sides--- the sender and the receiver.
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Angelica LariosCEO| ALACONTEC, S.A. de C.V.Mexico Df, Mexico
Hi Valery, nice post.
In my opinion, as I wrote in my article "Honesty as the basis of Ethics in an Organization" to create a culture of ethical environment two things are fundamental: 1. Tell the truth and 2. Receive the truth.
As Project Managers or project members telling the truth as it is, will increase the confidence and the understanding of the team, it could be hard to do or even hurt some feelings but I will say that telling the truth is the best possible way.
On the other hand, receiving the truth is an exercise of open-minded that in turn will create confidence and trust among the team members and in turn will create ethical environment.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:15 PM
Valerie Denney
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Thanks Angelica,
Your article contributes greatly to this conversation.
Policy #2- Tell the Truth.
Policy #3- Receive the truth.
Jason ChowManager (End Users Support Services)| The Hong Kong Jockey ClubNew Territory, Hong Kong
This is a very good discussion. Trust can be a personal decision. Based on background/experience, some people can build trust in shorter period, and some may take long. As a team leader, building a secure environment for team members to trust each other is not an easy task. Given the nature of project is temporary, sometimes leaders have not enough time to build the trust before the team has to catch up the schedule. Making use of team building opportunities can help to build the trust environment.
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2 replies by Jason Chow and Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:09 PM
Valerie Denney
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Jason, You use a wonderful phase here that I don't see in any of the other postings... "personal decision". Perhaps people can say "trust me", but individuals will DECIDE {emphasis added} if they can or not.
Is trust a two way street?
Feb 13, 2019 10:45 AM
Jason Chow
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A two way trust should have the highest work efficiency and best output quality. One way trust should work as well, but the communication may not be as efficient and not really sustainable.
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Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Feb 04, 2019 10:16 PM
Replying to Valerie Denney
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Thomas, Thank you so much for contributing. Is suffering a necessary condition for a trustful environment? This is a perspective I never considered before. I would love to hear more from you.
Just curious... what is the source of the bullets you posted?
Valerie, most of my bullet points come from David Rock's SCARF model. SCARF stands for status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness. If somebody attacks one of these, our lymbic system will take over and trigger the flight/fight reflex. No trust then. So to create trust you must make sure that we feel comfortable in these 5 areas. I added responsibility (2nd bullet) to complete the values in PMI's code, honesty for me is included in autonomy, but I now would add it as a 7th bullet. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Valerie,
I used 'willingness to suffer' because it changes my perspective to what does it mean to me to trust others. Following EI concepts, only when we show this empathy with others, we can try to influence them (to be trustful).
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 3:59 PM
Valerie Denney
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Thomas. Thank you for your thoughts! I understand your perspective better.
It begins with a Trustworthy Project Manager one who is competent to lead communicating with teams involving them at every step of the way. A Project Manager who knows the business requirements and its people. He or She can influence and build a culture that will be accepted and respected by the organisation. It depends who is in the driving seat!. it will either go off course or it will be on course!.. People management skills are a must.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:07 PM
Valerie Denney
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Vasoula, Thank you for contributing here. In your opinion, how do we measure that a project manager is trustworthy?
Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
Feb 05, 2019 11:16 PM
Replying to Naomi Caietti
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Thanks for the question Valerie. Truth is built one conversation, one interaction, and one action at a time. As a project leader you must earn trust from your team and stakeholders daily. It's important to model the way in your leadership styles, communicate clearly and engage with your team. Trust is a two way street so it's important to have a rules of engagement for you and your team.
Thank you Naomi for your thoughtful response. I very much like the one by one, by one image. Building trust requires incremental, continual work. Nicely done. Saving Changes...
Paulo RoqueChartered Civil Engineer, PMP| BECHTELSetubal, Portugal
First It’s crucial a sound communication to make sure that all the team members are in the same page, since when people are told exactly what is wanted and expected from them, they will feel driven to provide it in a trustable way.
On the other hand, transmitting enthusiasm and offering empathy and acknowledgement is the best way to build trust within a team.
Also, team's success needs to be shared and in order to succeed all the members of the team need to know their significance for that success, and when it happens the trust has been reached.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:05 PM
Valerie Denney
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Paulo,
Thank you for contributing. I completely agree that SOUND (my emphasis) communication is necessary. In fact, I don't know how anyone can be trustworthy if they are not a good communicator. I believe the two go hand in hand.
Ah... enthusiasm.... I agree, but it must be genuine. I can remember a few situations where I took over a failing project and enthisiasim was not a key attribute of success... but teamwork was.
Product Operations Program ManagerBarcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Indeed, a very good topic for discussion. Some random thoughts come to mind.
A. Being a tgenuinely trustworthy person. It is stating the obvious, but it is hard to expect that a non trustworthy individual could be a trustworthy PM practitioner.
B. Having a solid track record and reputation/references. If it is positive, trust will increase across the involved departments and individuals.
C. Being an excellent communicator. Sometimes it might happen that Project Sponsor believes that the project is not going well, despite all metrics showing the opposite. This might be due to lack of good communication skills.
D. Credentials. This is a tricky one (there are a lot of discussions on this forum about this), but having a credential might/should increase trust.
E. Industry knowledgeable. It will be difficult to build trust (not impossible) to develop a PM role in a industry about you have no clue about. Trust will be won, little by little, as the PM learns the jargon, the basics, etc. but will take some time.
For sure there are many others, but these came to mind now.
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1 reply by Valerie Denney
Feb 12, 2019 4:02 PM
Valerie Denney
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Eduard, Great thoughts. They don't seem random to me... I can definitely relate. I particularly resonate with C- excellent communicator. Part of building trust is open, transparent communications.
What are your additional thoughts about credentials? Are you suggesting that there be a credential for trust or it is inherent in credentials, such as PMP (via the code of ethics). How would you MEASURE trust?
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