Tag: empowerment

Leadership & Team Development

Trust, how do you build it in the workplace?

To build trust in the workplace is critical to keep your promises.
Gaining someone’s trust is not easy, do not do anything that risks losing it.

In my last post, I was talking about empowerment.  I indicated that if you empower your employees, you need to trust them. But trust is a two-way street, you trust your employees, and they must trust you back.  How do you build that trust?

5 ways to build trust in the workplace

1.  Be honest and with integrity no matter the circumstances

There is no doubt that it is hard, to be honest, and act with integrity all the time.  Regardless of how hard or inconvenient it might be, it is critical for being a trustworthy person.  Consequently, admit when you don’t know and take responsibility for your failures.  

Be transparent, accept if you are wrong, and be open about your emotions.  For example, concede that you are angry about the outcome and ask for time for reflection before talking about the matter.  Showing vulnerability is not showing weakness but rather that you are human too.  

Also, always communicate your reasons to do something and list your expectations.  Do not hide information, be transparent instead.  

2.  Show respect and listen to what others have to say

The most basic form of respect is to listen.  Let people talk, focus on the person, and listen with the intention of understanding.  Ask for clarification to fully understand ideas, concerns, or feelings.  Then, respond with empathy and give feedback respectfully.  Show your team that you genuinely care about them. 

Another way to show respect is to be mindful of your demeanor.  Be aware of your reactions.  For example, don’t laugh or make fun of peoples’ comments.  Likewise, do not dismiss their ideas.  Your job is to coach and teach them.  Remember that not everybody learns or analyze things at the same pace or the same way.  Getting to know the person behind each employee, that is the best way to be able to help them.

3.  Think before you act

It takes time to build trust.  Therefore, the last thing you want to happen is to do something that breaks that trust.  Take time to think about how you are going to answer, make decisions carefully.  However, do not take too much time.  

Be consistent with your actions, treat everybody the same way, and act with integrity at all times. While making decisions, think about your values.  How do they align with your values?  Always, especially during hard times, respond as per your values.  

4.  Keep your promises

Once you tell someone that you will do something for them, do what you say you would.  Honor your commitments and don’t make promises you can’t keep.  If you meant to do something, do it.  If the outcome of your actions is not what the person is expecting to hear, say it anyway.  Be honest about the reasons and offer an alternative solution.

5.  Support your employees

Have their back at all times, never let anybody to bully or disrespect any person.  Your team needs to know that you are there for them always.  Create a trusted environment where they feel good about sharing their ideas and concerns.  As indicated before, a safe setting where they learn and test their opinion without fear of losing their jobs.  Provide feedback and guidance without judging but showing compassion and empathy.

Key Points to build confidence

Give trust to get trust, be the adult in the room, and extent the olive branch first.  Gaining the confidence of someone is not an easy task.  Therefore, take small steps by inviting the person to participate in a continuous improvement event, brainstorming session, or project with you.   

Model those behaviors that you want to promote by respecting everybody, keeping your word, and being transparent.  Participate with your team in the continuous improvement and problem-solving processes without trying to micro-manage.  Instead of controlling the situation, coach, and give constructive feedback.

Leadership & Team Development

Empowerment, what it is and how you do it?

Empower your employees to take over the improvement of their work.
Empowered employees take over problem-solving and process improvement of their workplace.

Empowerment through coaching and skills development is a powerful way to show respect to your team.  When leadership walks away from command-and-control management, they start to empower their team to take control of their work.  As servant leaders, supervisors and managers listen more, ask questions to understand, and take away barriers.  

What is empowerment?

Merriam-Webster defined empowerment as the act or action of empowering someone or something, the granting of the power, right, or authority to perform various acts or duties.  In business, it means to share information and some level of power with the employees to make decisions.  Likewise, it delegates some tasks like problem-solving and improvements at the workspace level.  As a result, it also comes with more responsibility and accountability.

At Barry-Wehmiller, they refer to empowerment as responsible freedom.  Bob Chapman talked about it in his post, “Trust: Better to give than receive“.  He indicated that responsible freedom summarizes two ideas, freedom and responsibility.  Freedom is the opportunity to exercise personal choice, to have ownership of the work that you do and the decisions you make.  Responsibility is to ensure to be careful and exercise concern for other people and the requirements of the organization while making decisions.

Empowerment Requirements

But give power or authorization does no good if leadership doesn’t fulfill some requirements first. Employee empowerment requires the following.

  • Trust they will do their best
  • Training in the skills necessary to carry out the new tasks
  • Coach them how to use the new skills and model the behaviors associated with them
  • Provide all required information or grant access to it
  • Encourage testing new ideas and assist with guidance and resources

How do you entitle your team with more power and control?

Empowerment means people have power and control over their daily work.  With this new power and control, they gain knowledge and trust in their capabilities.  Similarly, they feel more engaged with their work and happier when they come back home. 

As leaders, we need to watch out for our team’s needs.  Not everybody learns at the same pace or the same way.  The support they need on this new endeavor is not the same either.  Some people need more help than others. 

If you empower them, you need to trust and support them.  Respect your team by providing adequate support.  Visit the workplace often, talk with your employees and listen to their concerns.  Ask how you can help and do what you said you would do.  Equally important is to provide support.  No idea is a bad idea.  Respectfully ask questions to guide them.  Challenge the situation or the method, never the person.  Create a safe environment where the team is not afraid of sharing their ideas, try them, or fail.  After all, in continuous improvement, you win, or you learn!