In a healthy team, team members trust each other. But what actually is trust? In his well-known book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989), Stephen Covey came up with an appealing metaphor for it. Suppose that between people, in a relationship, a group of friends or a team, there is a kind of emotional bank account. Then the relationship is healthy and pleasant as long as the balance is positive.
People can make deposits, for example through attention or honesty. Then mutual trust grows. There are also withdrawals, for example when you neglect others or are dishonest. Sometimes a withdrawal can't be avoided. For example, you are incredibly busy and are therefore less attentive to your partner and your colleagues. As long as the balance is positive, the relationship can take a knock. But if you go into the red, the relationship suffers.
What are the six deposits?
Covey names six possible deposits. They become a withdrawal if you show the opposite.
- Really understanding the other person. And sometimes being willing to step into their world.
- Attention to little things. A gesture of care, for example.
- Keeping promises. Breaking a promise, by contrast, is a huge withdrawal.
- Clarifying expectations. Including unspoken expectations. That sometimes takes courage.
- Showing integrity. Not just being honest, but also doing what you say.
- Apologising sincerely. For the withdrawals you have made.
Note: what is a deposit for you may be experienced as a withdrawal by someone else. For example, if an apology comes across as insincere. And a small lapse of memory may be unimportant to you but mean a lot to someone else. If you pay attention to others, you know better what matters to them. That is why communication remains so important, and why deposits must be sincere.
A collective account
Covey didn't work out his theory for groups and teams, but you can easily imagine a collective account. In problem teams, the balance is probably negative, at least between some team members.
The concept is simple to explain. If you discuss the six deposits together, you quickly find the sore spots. Do make sure the conversation is not just about the bank account between the team and 'the terrible outside world'.
Trust and psychological safety
A positive balance in the emotional bank account makes it easier to show vulnerability. That is exactly what psychological safety means: the shared feeling that it is safe to take risks in your team, such as asking a question or admitting a mistake. Amy Edmondson showed that teams in which that feeling is strong learn more and perform better. Edmondson And in Google's research into 180 teams, psychological safety turned out to be the most important factor for successful teams. Google re:Work
How do you work with problem teams?
In his Handboek Teamcoaching (Team Coaching Handbook), Martijn Vroemen describes four archetypes of problem teams: the disengaged team, the fighting team, the victim team and the hero team. Handboek Teamcoaching In practice you come across all of them, but also mixed forms, and sometimes a team moves from one form to another. To work with them well, a user guide comes in handy:
- Don't show the framework to the teams themselves. That provokes resistance. Few people like being labelled, especially when the label is negative.
- Make your diagnosis carefully and choose your approach sharply. Take the intervention 'setting boundaries'. In a disengaged team it achieves little. In a fighting team you often do it right at the start, in a victim team rather later. And in a hero team it only provokes resistance.
- Look at the team's history and future. A disengaged team may once have been a fighting team that has fought itself out. And a hero team may be well on its way to becoming a fighting team. That matters for your approach.
Also read: more effective teams through psychological safety and connection with the team.
About this article: this piece is based on the Handboek Teamcoaching by Martijn Vroemen.
