Source: psychologytoday.com
It doesn’t have to take months for you to build trust with your employees!
Building trust and meaningful relationships are important parts of leadership. Trust is the foundation for creating collaboration, productivity, and thriving on your team. Yet, many leaders don’t prioritize building trust — often thinking it takes too much time. Luckily, in our research, we uncovered a streamlined approach for leaders to build trust quickly and effectively.
Why building trust matters
Building trust with team members is not just a nice thing to do. Employees that trust their leaders actually perform better on the job. Additionally, trust opens up communication. Employees are more likely to share ideas, speak up when they need help, and collaborate effectively when there’s trust.
Having trusted and meaningful relationships with your employees can help reduce miscommunication, snap judgments, and minimize conflict. As you get to know your employees, you are less likely to experience miscommunication because you’ve learned each other’s style. You also don’t make quick judgments based on biases or limited information because you’ve gotten to know and understand the other person better. You and your employees are more likely to see each other as individuals versus using stereotypes to explain behaviors. And, as you can imagine, this all leads to reduced conflict. You are more likely to give people you have real relationships with the benefit of the doubt. You and your employees will assume good intent when conflict arises — which can help prevent defensiveness and increase the ability to quickly resolve the issue.
What is the SWIFT Process?
The good news is that building trust and meaningful relationships with your team members doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Brief, intentional conversations can be enough to improve trust. As we mentioned earlier, in our research interviewing employees with great leaders, we learned that the SWIFT Process is an effective method to creating relationships quickly.
The SWIFT Process entails:
- Setting aside time for relationship-building sprints
- Welcoming others warmly
- Intentionally inquiring about others’ lives
- Following up with thoughtful questions
- Taking time to self-reflect for improvement
The benefits of SWIFT are clear. Employees who trust their leaders are more engaged, productive, and collaborative. Teams with strong relationships experience fewer misunderstandings and conflicts. And leaders who embrace the SWIFT process are able to drive their teams toward thriving and success.
How can you bring SWIFT to life?
The SWIFT Process can be applied quickly in your day-to-day leadership approach. Below are some ideas of how to bring each step to life.
1. Setting aside time for relationship-building: Block time in your calendar for regular check-ins with team members, especially those new to the team. Be intentional and consider ways to make those check-ins even more meaningful. Maybe mix it up from time to time with a lunch or a walk. Changing venues can help reduce the power dynamic and make the conversation flow more comfortably.
2. Welcoming others warmly: Begin each interaction with a genuine smile, a kind word, or a gesture that shows you value the person’s presence. You don’t have to be a warm and fuzzy person to bring warmth to a conversation. Sometimes just remembering a little fact about the person, like their pet’s name, can make an interaction feel warmer.
3. Intentionally inquiring about others’ lives: Go beyond the surface-level. For instance, instead of asking, “How’s work?” try, “What’s been most exciting or challenging for you recently?” And, don’t be afraid to ask how employees are doing personally. Don’t push for information, but see what they are willing to share. Sharing about yourself too can help them open up and get to know you.
4. Following up with thoughtful questions: Demonstrate that you listened by referencing previous conversations. For example, if a colleague mentioned a hobby or family event, ask questions about it. Never pry into areas the employee avoids but be sure to follow-up on anything they do discuss. It’s ok to take notes too! You may not remember everything so jot a quick reminder for yourself so you can follow up in the future.
5. Taking time to self-reflect for improvement: After each interaction, consider what went well and what could be enhanced. Did you make the other person feel heard and valued? Are there ways you can deepen the connection next time?
Again, these steps don’t have to take a lot of your time. You likely are meeting with your employees in an individual setting already. Be more intentional in how you use that time together and you can quickly strengthen your relationships moving forward.