• This person on the team is very toxic....
• The new department manager has come in with a very different culture and is having a hard time getting a hold of the team....
• The team is doing very well. However, to face the challenges ahead, it would help us to be more united...
• After the merger of the two companies, it is difficult for the team to feel united...

These are some of the situations that we at Gaia Balance have encountered with our clients. These are symptoms, behaviors and results of a lack of trust. Although this is not an absolute, it is a path made up of different stages that teams have to go through to keep moving forward and to keep growing.

According to Stephen Covey, one of the world's leading experts in leadership and organizational change, of the 26 factors that determine commitment, the most relevant factor (by far) is the trust that employees have in the organization, in their colleagues and especially in their managers. 

Confinement and teleworking have had a direct impact on how we relate to each other and build trust. It is now a more complex issue and, at the same time, a rising value. This week, while we were talking to a client, he told us about his concern, since nowadays it is even more difficult to integrate a new addition to the team, since this person has not had the option of being in person and sharing the same space with his colleagues or bosses.

So... How do we increase trust? What resources do we have to do it? What diminishes it? How do we achieve it in virtual environments?

We are facing new challenges that will be part of a new reality in the work environment and in which business leaders will play a key role in providing a human touch and values such as empathy, trust, understanding and the ability to unite teams. Undoubtedly, an exercise of joint reflection is necessary, but with the necessary resources, both at an emotional and business level, it can be achieved.