Trust: The Key to Successful Collaboration

When teams are working effectively together there is a certain energy in them that makes it seem like they've "caught fire" and the entire team is "in flow" (Daniel Goleman: Working With Emotional Intelligence, 1998: 227). Goleman describes the team that worked on Sojourner Rover, the robot that 'walked' on the surface of Mars and sent information back to earth about its neighbouring planet. The Sojourner team worked intensively for years fired by the enormity of what they were doing, sharing tasks and jointly making decisions irrespective of their role or position in the hierarchy. The mood was playful but the task was serious. When they met unexpected problems the entire team responded quickly and creatively. They were in flow.
Teams that are in flow are characterised by certain common traits. These include intense loyalty on the part of team members, a diverse range of talents, shared passion, a sense of fun and rewarding and a high degree of trust. While all these traits are important, Larson and LaFasto's study of winning teams found that trust is key. It directs vital energy towards to task and away from politicking. It promotes easy and efficient communication. Effort is coordinated and people willingly support or substitute for each other. Because team members know that they will be supported if they fail, problems, mistakes and possible glitches become apparent early enough for the impact to be minimised.
However, trust seems to be such an intangible quality that many team leaders despair of knowing how to build it. Larson and LaFasto suggest that it can be fostered by increasing the level of involvement and autonomy that team members experience. When all team members are clear about the goal, have a say in how to get there, and are empowered to take risks and make decisions their trust in each other and the level of their collaboration increases manifold.