5 Ways Trust Influences Project Outcomes

March 27, 2023

How do you build trust in the workplace? Below are 5 ways trust influences project outcomes and an example of why it matters.

Teams built on trust are difference-makers. Case in point, let me tell a tale of two projects and how trust drove very different outcomes. Both projects included team members from IT, the business and contracted implementation partners.

Project A realized early in execution that its team members were misaligned on the goals of the project and unintentionally working against each other. For example, part of the team was focused on IT roadmaps while other members were focused on the design of the initial release to begin development work. Deadlines conflicted and goals were misaligned. The System Integrator hired to help with implementation was caught in the middle and unsure which priority to follow. After missing critical deadlines early in the project, a week-long summit was held to address top-ranked program risks, major vendor issues and cross program dependencies. Slowing down to discuss where breakdowns were occurring and develop a mitigation plan to bring the programs back into alignment was time well spent. Executive leaders of the program from IT and the business drove an expectation of trust and transparency among the team and set the tone of the project from the top. The program execution significantly improved, and the teams began to hit their milestones gaining trust and respect of leaders and affected employees. The project went live on schedule.

Project B was a similar project suffering from a lack of communication and trust among key team members. These team members were all focused on going live with a viable product as quickly as possible. However, they weren’t aligned on the priority of remaining functionality and defect resolution. The teams met often but were not listening to each other and didn’t trust each other’s intentions. Executive leadership needed to drive priority alignment among the team members. The project struggled to deliver a viable product to its users and was behind schedule and over budget. The lack of transparency and communication among the team members hampered execution and drove frustration with affected employees.

At Lakuna we have worked on many project implementations, and we have seen firsthand how trust drives success. So here are five key things leaders can do to develop trust among their teams:

Set Expectations

1. Set Expectations

1.

Ensure as leaders you are setting expectations for transparency and communication among team members. If you don’t have open relationships with your project peers, they won’t think cultivating transparency and communicating clearly are important either. Business and IT leaders should talk often with open lines of communication. Creating an environment of trust starts with setting expectations and the tone at the top from project leadership

Resist Showing Frustration

2.

When your teams report on issues that arise (and they will), resist the reaction to show anger and frustration. Instead assist them with developing mitigation plans to minimize the impact, lead a root cause analysis, and share lessons learned. Showing frustration and anger towards your team results in a hesitancy to raise issues in the future. You don’t want to inadvertently end up with watermelon projects – reported as green (outside) but at risk to be delivered on time or within budget (red inside).

Resist Showing Frustration

2. Include Partners In Teams

3. Include Partners In Teams

3.

Treat your implementation partners as part of your team. You engaged them so you can be successful, and you need your teams to trust them with open and honest communication. Too often we see strategic partners informed on a need-to-know basis. Your goals should be their goals. Make sure they understand the challenges surrounding a project. Factors from outside a project create bigger problems because it requires coordination outside of the core project team.

Invest Internally

4.

Invest in change adoption, and support your teams in communicating with affected employees. Gain the trust of those most affected, and get their assistance in leading the changes. Your project is more likely to achieve its stated objectives with the support of those using the product.

Invest Internally

4. Always Thank Your Team

5. Always Thank Your Team

5.

Don’t forget to thank your teams – in good times and bad. Getting assigned to projects can be both rewarding and exhausting. It is a time of growth for many individuals, but mid-project fatigue is real! Words of encouragement, public praise and recognition go a long way to earning the trust and respect of your project teams and improving morale during project implementations.

5 Ways Trust Influences Project Outcomes

Set Expectations

1.

Set Expectations

1.

Resist Showing Frustration

2.

Resist Showing Frustration

2.

Include Partners In Teams

3.

Include Partners In Teams

3.

Invest Internally

4.

Invest Internally

4.

Always Thank Your Team

5.

Always Thank Your Team

5.

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