Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

If you’re starting a team, you want it to be a strong, cohesive group. One that trust all its members. I call such teams ‘high-trust’ teams. In this piece, I expand on what such a team might behave, and how you could go about creating one. A strong team with high trust, and good relations with external leadership, is a powerful and effective force.

Consider the Orchestra. The conductor’s baton doesn’t dictate each note, it merely guides to create a harmony of instruments. Like the orchestra, a high-trust engineering organization isn’t about rigid control, you need to cultivate an environment where individuals combine into an effective force.

What do high-trust engineering look like? They definitely lack distrust. They are also held held together by mutual respect, great communication, and have shared values. They place mutual trust and shared values above organizational structure. Such teams encourage ideas to flow freely, diverse perspectives to be shared, and honest feedback to be provided. We need to create an environment where members must feel psychologically safe to experiment and learn. To align goals and make sure everyone’s contributing their best, transparency and mutual accountability get the highest priorities. The role of leaders in such groups is to empower, and to guide, not to dictate. They trust their team to perform autonomously and celebrate their achievements.

Building such an ensemble is not an easy task. The music must go on even when conflicts arise. By trusting their teams, leaders can let loose the full potential of their teams.

But many organizations inadvertently create dissonant orchestras. Secrecy and lack of open communication can lead to suspicion, which drives wedge between teammates. Engineers become isolated soloists, hesitant to share their contributions. Like an out-of-tune orchestra, the teams produce muted and uninspired performances. Such lack of trust is expensive: communication breakdowns due to distrust can lead to serious productivity losses, duplicate work, and self-undermining politics. The absence of trust also stifles exchange of ideas for innovation. It leads to high employee turnover. Losing teammates is are like losing skilled musicians mid-performance. It disrupts the group’s ability to deliver. That ultimately leads to reduction in customer satisfaction. Nobody wins when team conflict causes lagging delivery times and response delays.

And so, for a high-trust team, members must actively listen, respectfully disagree, and readily share information. It’s important to be vulnerable and transparent to build trust. Regular team meetings, clear expectations, and an open-door policy are the ensemble rehearsals. The team backlog is the sheet music.

Leaders with a clear vision, good delegation skills, and open communication must see themselves as conductor who inspires and guides. They need to allow performers to shine within the broader composition. Leaders need to have openness to admit mistakes, heartily celebrate successes, and actively seek feedback. They must show their commitment to creating a trustworthy environment. They must create a sense of safety, where individuals feel comfortable to take risks and experiment without fear of judgment.

However, building a high-trust team isn’t a solo performance. It requires a multi-instrumental orchestra. Leaders need to set clear individual expectations, as well as setting shared responsibility for the group. Every contributor needs to understand their role clearly and trust their teammates to deliver their parts. What that means is every team must cater to diverse roles, with flexible integration and collaboration options. Even the most introverted contributors have to be supported to contribute meaningfully.

Measuring the impact of trust is tricky. Get qualitative data on productivity, and collect quantitative feedback from team members for an all-rounded performance review. There’s going to be considerable mistrust and resistance if you’re moving from ‘regular’ or ‘low-trust’ environments. Leaders need to show the vision of long-term benefits of high trust. Trust-building activities with the teams, aligning them with organizational goals can help speed up the process.

There will be obstacles on the way, the transition is often hard. Leaders used to micromanagement will fear losing control. Short-term performance pressures can overshadow the long-term benefits. Deep cultural mistrust will create resistance. If the leadership is unaware, or apathetic, to the negative impacts of low-trust, this is all pointless. It’s going to take considerable time and resources to create such tight teams. Resource constraints might hinder the transition.