Building Trust

Like many of the best things in life, trust really is free. Doing without it, however, will cost you dearly, especially in business. What’s at stake is productivity, innovation, and ultimately, profits.

High functioning teams share goals that drive day-to-day activities. Their mutual self-interest greases the wheels of collaboration, but trust is the solid ground they ride on. Capitalizing on their energy and motivation so your team is productive requires that they collaborate freely, and for that, people need to trust each other.

Trust is based on a history of honest relationships. Do people at your company talk directly to a person when they have an issue with them or just complain about that person to someone else? Teams are subtly strengthened or gradually divided by the way simple, everyday differences are communicated.

Unified teams have integrity, demonstrating honesty through actions. Having integrity means that what an individual says and what they actually do are consistent with each other. Can your team count on one another to do what they say they will do?

Teams that operate in the absence of trust are guarded, and by necessity more cautious about everything they say and do. Communication becomes a way to defend and protect oneself, avoiding risk rather than reaching for results. The consequence for your business is more of the status quo, instead of the collaborative risk-taking that exemplifies off-the-charts growth.

Harnessing their inspiration and creativity depends on employees being able to trust each other and their managers. Groups innovate when they are comfortable sharing ideas, exploring “What if…?” and can rely on each other to keep the process moving. They need to feel safe discussing “what’s not working” in the context of exploring ways to make it better.

The answers to these questions are a good indicator of whether your company is already recognized as a creative industry leader or one that follows trends set by more innovative competitors. When trust levels are high, so is the potential that the talented people you’ve hired will coalesce to become a powerful team.

Crucial interpersonal skills such as personal accountability and effective communication are enhanced with The Productivity Coach’s unique approach, and the team’s true potential comes into focus when you use our team behavior and motivator reports. For more information, contact James on 0421 210 444

ARE YOU TOO BUSY TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS?

Clients often tell us that they are too busy working in the business to be able to concentrate on all of these areas. Planning is absolutely essential however, because it is this vital process that focuses you to work on the future success of your business rather than in it.

The development of winning strategies and their implementation requires effective planning and analysis to understand where your business is now, where you want it to be in the future, and how you are going to achieve your goals.

The Productivity Coach can assist you by facilitating the development of a highly focused one page action plan. Although simple, the process is very powerful and it produces winning results.

We are creating the opportunity for business owners and managers to work in groups so that they can develop and test their plan, strategies and ideas with their peers. This is an extremely powerful and empowering process for the network members.

The planning process requires an understanding of the competitive advantage that your business currently has, or needs to develop. Your competitive advantage will then drive your marketing strategy while your operations, innovation, finance and human resources strategies all need to be aligned to the unique value you are offering your customers.

The essential task of examining your major issues and challenges, setting measurable goals, and giving priority to those issues which will have the greatest impact on your customers and your business is now made easer.  You will develop winning strategies to achieve your goals.