>>> Most leaders agree that trust is a key factor for the success o the team and the organisation and that they are actively working to build trust. And yet, various studies imply that almost half of the teams and organisations worldwide experience lower trust levels with their managers, teammates and the rest of the organisation, which leads to decreased engagement, productivity and success. >>> In this talk we will discuss why trust is a key success factor for every team and every organisation, some good practices for building, sustaining and rebuilding trust, as well as the most common mistakes related to trust building

1. Trust - the Key Success Factor
for Teams & Organisations
Marin Dimitrov
Engineering Manager @ Uber
@marin_dim
DEV.BG IT Leads forum
Oct 2018, Sofia|BG

2. Topics
Why it matters
The basics
Your “Trust Development Kit”
Best Practices

3. About me
Engineering Manager @ Uber
@marin_dim

5. Why it Matters

6. https://hbr.org/2016/07/the-connection-between-employee-trust-and-financial-performance

7. “Building Workplace Trust: Trends & High Performance” (Interaction Associates, 2014)

8. “Building Workplace Trust: Trends & High Performance” (Interaction Associates, 2014)

9. “Could trust cost you a generation of talent? Global generations 3.0: A global study on trust in the workplace”
(EY, 2016)

10. “Could trust cost you a generation of talent? Global generations 3.0: A global study on trust in the workplace”
(EY, 2016)

11. The Basics

13. Absence of trust
Symptoms
● Hiding mistakes & weaknesses
● Not asking for help
● Jumping to conclusions
● Not providing constructive feedback
● Lack of recognition
● Avoiding meetings
When you fix it, you’ll see...
● Admitting mistakes and apologising
● Actively seeking (and providing)
feedback
● Asking for help and giving recognition
● Assuming good intent
● Enjoying teamwork & collaboration

15. Building trust (Frances Frei)
https://www.ted.com/talks/frances_frei_how_to_build_and_rebuild_trust?language=en

16. Building trust: Empathy
Communication
● Team interests above yours
● Mindful of the emotions of others
● Self-critical / admitting mistakes
● Active listening / intent to understand
Critical Qs
● Are you communicating properly?
● Are you dedicating enough time &
space for the interaction?
● Are you helping others understand
the issue or your point of view?

17. Critical Qs
● Are you providing a “safe space” for
diverse ideas & styles
● Are you openly sharing your
challenges, obstacles & weaknesses
with the team?
● Does the team know your personal
story, values, interests?
Building trust: Authenticity
Communication
● Direct & actionable feedback
● Encouraging radical candor
● Inclusive, diverse opinions
● Asking for help

18. Critical Qs
● Are you communicating properly?
● What is your storytelling style?
○ evidence → conclusion
○ statement → supporting evidence
Building trust: Logic
Communication
● Sound reasoning & argumentation
● Sound decision making process

19. Building trust (Frances Frei)
https://www.ted.com/talks/frances_frei_how_to_build_and_rebuild_trust?language=en
What is your strength
and weakness?

20. Acknowledge & Accept
● Provide constructive feedback
● Ask questions, make less assumptions
● Focus on solving the issue and
improving the future collaboration
When trust is broken
Admit & Apologise
● Own your mistakes
● Ask clarifying questions
● Provide clarity on your point of view &
intent
● Increase & improve the communication

21. The “trust battery” (Tobi Luetke, Shopify CEO)
Am I charging my “trust battery”? Which recent behaviours are discharging it?

22. Your “Trust Development Kit”

23. Company culture & values
● Values, beliefs & behaviours
practiced in the organisation
● Core asset of the organisation - can
be a competitive advantage
● Attracts great people, becomes an
amplifier to individual & team
performance
● Shared understanding
● Guides hiring
● Guides feedback & performance review
processes
● Continuously evolving with the
organisation

24. https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
http://culturecodes.co/

25. 1:1s
Best practices
● Direct, skip level, peer level
● Never, ever cancel a 1:1!
● Regular is better than on-demand
● Personal, structured, effective
● Open, high-impact questions
Topics
● Quick feedback
● Short & long term growth
● Team dynamics & happiness
● Productivity blockers
● Not a status / progress update!

26. 360 degree feedback
● Aligned with the company values & role
expectations
● Manager, peers, direct reports
● Be mindful of biases (e.g. recency)
● Specific & actionable
(Situation-Action-Outcome)
● 5:1 ratio for positive:constructive feedback

27. Transparent “ladder” & performance reviews
● Transparent & clear criteria for a
promotion to the next level
● Consistent process across the
organisation
● Peer assessments, independent
reviewers and calibrations
● Checks & balances by Senior
Leadership

28. Autonomy, accountability, recognition
● Don’t micromanage
● Encourage experimentation
● Build tolerance for mistakes
● Regular recognition of individual and
team achievements (and efforts)
● Learning from mistakes / blameless
postmortems
● Team retrospectives

29. Communication
● Communicate often and transparently
● Empathy-Authenticity-Logic model -
problems are caused by poor / insufficient
communication
● Encourage inclusivity & diverse opinions -
open communication from the teammates

30. Best Practices

31. “Building Workplace Trust: Trends & High Performance” (Interaction Associates, 2014)

32. “Could trust cost you a generation of talent? Global generations 3.0: A global study on trust in the workplace”
(EY, 2016)

33. Your team & you
● Address the 5 dysfunctions
● Empathy-Authenticity-Logic - improve
your communication style
● Trust building exercises / showing
vulnerability
● Effective 1:1s & regular feedback
● Ask for feedback & radical candor
● Encourage diverse opinions
● Provide autonomy & ensure
accountability
● Regular recognition of achievements
& efforts
● Transparent communication and
decision making
● Transparent performance reviews
● Become the Chief Meaning Officer

34. https://hbr.org/2016/03/the-most-important-leadership-competencies-according-to-leaders-around-the-world
https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-identify-what-makes-a-great-manager/steps/learn-about-googles-manager-research/

35. https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-give-feedback-to-managers/steps/try-googles-manager-feedback-survey/

36. Your team
● Peer 1:1s & regular feedback
● Team retrospectives / lessons
learned
● 360 degree performance reviews
● Mutual respect and recognition on
job well done / helping a teammate
● You will be the “role model” for trust
● Trust building exercises / showing
vulnerability
● Competence & quality work is crucial
● Recharge the “trust battery“
● Asking for help and owning mistakes

37. https://twitter.com/orenellenbogen/status/760190429749018624
https://twitter.com/crewlabs/status/736558043060699136

38. Your team & other teams
● Company culture is crucial
● Culture should encourage
collaboration, meritocracy and reuse
● Delivering on commitments
● Aligning priorities and goals across
teams (org process)
● Asking for help and owning mistakes
● Blameless postmortems and
retrospectives
● Collaboration & cross-teamwork
should be part of team & individual
performance reviews

39. Your team & the organisation
● Company culture is crucial
● Senior Leaders will be the “role
model” for trust
● Regular communication &
information sharing
● All-Hands meetings, Q&A with
Leadership
● Upward feedback & surveys
● People are involved in decision
making / changes

40. Thank you!
Why it matters
The basics
Your “Trust Development Kit”
Best Practices@marin_dim