What Does Trust Have to Do With It?
It is an indisputable trend that teams are increasingly
the primary means for organizing work in business. Trust is an
essential contributor to interpersonal cooperation necessary for
successful teamwork, and this is a business investment
that should not be overlooked. Furthermore, based on the recent and
increasing calamities in business, trust is also becoming a central
concept to many of the more recent approaches to leadership. In
essence, trust often involves the "willingness to be vulnerable" and
builds on expectations that are in part emotional. Moods and emotions
interact with values and attitudes to determine the experience of trust.
Often we begin relationships with the assumption of trust; since it is the easier that way. However, future trust is determined by subsequent behavioral exchanges. If parties share positive emotions, it is a strong signal that they have succeeded in building trust. Provisional trust is the willingness to conduct the transaction as long as the other party behaves appropriately. Conditional trust is sufficient to conduct a wide range of activities but not nearly as powerful as unconditional trust, when relationships become significant and often involve a sense of mutual identification.
Jones & George (1998) have an inter-actionist model which holds there are three distinct forms of the trust experience: distrust, conditional trust, and unconditional trust. These are seen as three different states of the same construct, not three different constructs. How does trust relate to new ways of performing work like self-management teams? While conditional trust is sufficient for many purposes, unconditional trust takes people beyond being mere coworkers or business acquaintances into colleagues, friends, and team members.
Moving from conditional to unconditional trust allows employees to move from being a work group, interacting to perform within one's own area of responsibility, to being work teams, groups whose individual efforts result in performance greater than the sum of the parts. While the payoff of high levels of trust within organizations is large, the cost in time, effort and resources is considerable. For the organization to build and maintain unconditional trust and organizations must be willing to make these investments.
Often we begin relationships with the assumption of trust; since it is the easier that way. However, future trust is determined by subsequent behavioral exchanges. If parties share positive emotions, it is a strong signal that they have succeeded in building trust. Provisional trust is the willingness to conduct the transaction as long as the other party behaves appropriately. Conditional trust is sufficient to conduct a wide range of activities but not nearly as powerful as unconditional trust, when relationships become significant and often involve a sense of mutual identification.
Jones & George (1998) have an inter-actionist model which holds there are three distinct forms of the trust experience: distrust, conditional trust, and unconditional trust. These are seen as three different states of the same construct, not three different constructs. How does trust relate to new ways of performing work like self-management teams? While conditional trust is sufficient for many purposes, unconditional trust takes people beyond being mere coworkers or business acquaintances into colleagues, friends, and team members.
Moving from conditional to unconditional trust allows employees to move from being a work group, interacting to perform within one's own area of responsibility, to being work teams, groups whose individual efforts result in performance greater than the sum of the parts. While the payoff of high levels of trust within organizations is large, the cost in time, effort and resources is considerable. For the organization to build and maintain unconditional trust and organizations must be willing to make these investments.
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