Trust is difficult to define but important for relationships and collaboration. It involves relying on others in vulnerable situations and is built through consistency, communication, competence, and compassion over time. While trust is usually observed between individuals, research also shows that groups can be trusting and trustworthy when working together. Effective collaboration requires openly sharing information and working toward shared goals with high levels of trust. Building trust virtually takes more effort through open communication, honesty, and mutual understanding despite challenges.

2. "Rely on the actions of another party, typically directed
towards future situations". Example: Experienced co-worker
"Trust is a heuristic decision rule, allowing persons to deal
with complexities that would require unrealistic effort in
rational reasoning". Example: Shopping by brand
"Feeling safe in vulnerable situations". Example: Mountain
guide
"Trust is in our genes and our learning, it is a survival
mechanism that has served our species well". Example:
Instictive trust of children towards their parents/carers

3. Trust is...
- quite hard to define, but it is easy to know when it is lost.
- potentially risky if broken, may cause huge damages to the
involved parties.
- rational or irrational.
- difficult to gain.
- not achievable through command or decision.

4. Building blocks of trust:
1. Reliability and Dependability: "Being true to your word”
2. Transparency: "Don't hide important plans"
3. Competency: "Do and achieve what you promise"
4. Sincerity and Authenticity: "Mean what you say"
5. Fairness: "Respect both sides"
6. Openness and Vulnerability: "Admit when you are wrong"
4C of trust:
(1) Consistency
(2) Compassion
(3) Communication
(4) Competency

5. Trust is usually observed between individuals, but is also
applicable to groups. Research suggests that groups are
less trusting than individuals towards others, but they are
just as trustworthy.
Trust can be gained in many ways, but always requires time
and effort to develop. Shortcuts and quick wins are counter-
productive when it comes to trust, whether between
individuals or teams/groups.

6. List of measures that increase trust
Face-to-face meetings of like-minded persons.
Preferable interactive video/chat sessions for non-judgemental communication.
Positive personal interactions and direct, open communication channels. (Email vs. Chat,
Video vs. Phone, Static file storage vs. dynamic interactive sharing tools).
Belief and commitment in shared goals.
Eagerness to share information without fear or judgement.
Honest communication and feedback even when faced with challenges.
Mutual respect and understanding.
Readiness to actively support other individuals to achieve the common goal.
Clear signs of losing trust
Dishonesty and lies - even small ones hurt.
Being left out/ignored in decision making - political motives and unfairness.
Withdrawal of energy and engagement - unvalued work, uncertain goals.
Limiting contributions and willingness to share knowledge - lost belief in goals and benefits.
Hiding true intentions from each other - lost sincerity and transparency.
Internal strike, inner resignation - not valued or respected, not being included.

7. Co-ordination:
Goals: Narrow, often one-time goals defined; Focus is on following a set of directives to deliver goals.
Work: Basic team work enables delivery. Typical for simple service contracts.
Value: Delivered value benefits other parties than the involved teams.
Information: Is tightly controlled by third parties.
IT tools: Focus is to restrict access and communication.
Trust: Usually in untrusted environments.
Co-operation:
Goals: Tend to be driven by business needs. Still requires some directives for goals delivery.
Work: Good team work with medium trust levels required.
Value: Delivered value benefits often only one involved party, eg outsourcing arrangements.
Information: Sharing is setup on "need-to-know basis", often asymmetric.
IT tools: Enable basic communication and selective information sharing.
Trust: Basic level required.
Collaboration:
Goals: Involves common and shared goals that are jointly defined.
Delivery relies on specialists from all parties with high degree of freedom
Work: Advanced team work with high level of trust and transparency required.
Delivered value benefits all involved parties, eg for joint product innovation/development.
Safe and open sharing of information between parties is central to success.
IT tools: Really drive and enable collaboration for transparent, bi-directional information sharing.
Trust: Starts from higher levels. Environment aims to increase trust and knowledge sharing.

8. Topics:
How can trust be gained in online/virtual environments?
Can common threats like the current pandemic help to
increase trust and collaboration?
Can trust between individuals scale to teams and whole
organisations?
What is the role of online collaboration tools in building trust
relationships?
Sources:
"Trust", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006 & 2020
"Role of trust in business collaboration", Economist
Intelligence Unit, 2008
"Trust (social science)", Wikipedia.org
"Trust between individuals and groups", Journal of
Economic Psychology, December 2007