Building Trust with Team Members

Why It’s Harder Than Ever and How to Actually Pull It Off

Let’s be honest: trusting your team is easy… until it’s not. Maybe it’s the coworker who ghosted your deadline, or the manager whose “door is always open” but whose Slack is permanently on Do Not Disturb. Whatever your flavor of workplace skepticism, one thing is clear: trust isn’t automatic, it’s earned, kept, and sometimes, painfully rebuilt.

And yet, trust is the magic glue of any high-performing team. Without it, you’ve got drama, missed goals, and Zoom/Teams calls that feel like hostage negotiations.

Here’s how to build (and keep) trust on your team without needing a trust fall exercise or a TED Talk.

Why Trust Is the Real Productivity Hack

Forget fancy project management tools. If your team doesn’t trust each other, you’ll spend more time clarifying than creating.

Trust reduces friction.

When people trust each other, they communicate faster, give feedback more openly, and don’t second-guess every decision.

Trust fuels innovation.

In high-trust environments, people speak up without fear of looking stupid. That’s where ideas happen.

Trust saves time.

No passive-aggressive emails. No CYA docs. Just clarity, accountability, and momentum.

How to Build Trust Without Being Cringe

Let’s skip the kumbaya and get real. Here’s what works:

1. Keep Your Word, Even When It's Inconvenient

Canceling that 1:1 because you're "slammed"? Not a good look. If you say you’ll follow up, do it,

even if it’s just to say, I haven’t forgotten you.

2. Be Transparent (Without Oversharing)

You don’t need to narrate your every move, but giving context “Here’s why we’re shifting priorities” builds psychological safety. Clarity is kindness.

3. Own Your Mistakes First

Want people to be accountable? Model it. When you mess up, admit it. Your team will feel safer doing the same.

4. Check In, Don’t Check Up

Weekly check-ins should feel supportive, not like a parole hearing. Ask how things are going, not just what’s been done.

5. Celebrate the Small Wins

Nothing kills morale like only acknowledging the big milestones. Celebrate the process, the teamwork, the well-handled conflict. That’s where trust grows.

Trust Is Built on Behavior, Not Buzzwords

You can plaster “We’re all in this together” across your company wiki, but if your team doesn’t feel seen, heard, and respected, it’s just lip service.

So don’t overthink it. Just show up. Listen. Follow through. Repeat.