Trust at work fuels our ability to learn from mistakes, create conditions for productive disagreement, and enable risk taking. Trust shows up as dependability, in our commitment to the relationship despite the unpredictability of it, and in our desire to maintain it even when things go wrong. Here at The Practice of WE, trust undergirds Step 3» Behavior and Step 4» Repeat or Repair in the WE loop.
Most of us know that trust is important and we can recognize well when it is absent. In mission-driven work we strive for impact, for making a difference we can see, and often, one we can measure. We assume that trust is something unquantifiable and too ephemeral to grasp, so we leave it in the shadows.
Let’s change that.
Tools You Can Use
First, we have to understand that trust is not a single point of data, but rather a combination of behaviors, perceptions, and patterns. Make that combination visible and create shared language in your partnerships by:
1. Surveying Stakeholders
Ask your specific stakeholders directly. Answers to questions like, How much do you trust this organization to follow through on commitments? or To what extent do you feel your voice is respected in decisions?, provide important information about levels of trust. For funders, the Center for Effective Philanthropy has a fantastic tool in its Grantee and Applicant Perception Report to help you gauge how you are doing along the trust spectrum. Other survey platforms can easily be used for this task as well.
2. Capturing Repeat Behavior
There are several behaviors that signal trust. Start capturing data around how often partners return to collaborate, how frequently your organization is recommended to others, (i.e., how did you hear about us?), or how many civic and community leaders volunteer input beyond formal engagements. These behaviors signal earned trust and in the for-profit world, repeat customers. While not all business principles translate neatly into the mission-driven world, ideas around customer loyalty may be an area worthy of borrowing from as we think about what trust acts like.
3. Tracking Your Trustworthiness
Start with your own performance and whether you and your organization are engaging in trustworthy behaviors. Transparency and responsiveness are two great indicators to reflect upon. What percent of your communications include the rationale for decisions? How quickly do you respond to concerns? Are you following through on what you say you’ll do? These are good conversations to have with staff and boards to examine your end of the trust equation.
4. Looking for the Language of Trust
Identify trust-related themes in focus-group data, interviews, and feedback forms. AI-assisted tools can help analyze the language people use when describing your organization: do they use words like respect, honesty, consistency, or disappointed, ignored, unclear?
Trust deserves our attention and intention when it comes to relationship building in mission-driven work. Incorporating ways to track trust in our strategic plans and gauging our own performance around it signal that we are committed to earning it.