Building Trust Among Your Team, Including Your Outsourced C-Suite Members
Building Trust Among Your Team, Including Your Outsourced C-Suite Members
The average person spends approximately 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work. That’s about ⅓ of your life. If your employees are often spending more time with their fellow coworkers than with their own families, it’s important that trusting relationships are built in order to promote workplace happiness and ensure positive human development. As leaders and business owners, your employees depend on you to define their roles and provide support and motivation where needed. Especially in high-stress positions, there is a correlating need to establish relationships that don’t solely revolve around their work duties.
For an outsourcing c-suite team, who often spend years establishing a work routine with specific clients, the trust that builds between coworkers who work alongside each other each day may take a little longer to establish itself. You can promote the building of trust among your entire team, including your outsourced c-suite members, by utilizing specific techniques while opening up any communication barriers that may be present.
Don’t “sugar coat” or hide information that might be relevant to your team
Even leaders make mistakes. Tell the truth regardless of whether your team wants to hear it. Be honest in your feedback and constructive criticism. When mistakes are made by the team, developing a process of understanding and improvement will go much further than simply pointing them out. In addition, if your organization only tells external c-suite members “what they need to know”, they’ll be less prepared to understand your business principles, the different roles your organization possesses, and will be unable to find weaknesses in other areas of your business that may be affecting their own tasks or even your bottom-line.
Notice when your pipes are broken and fix them
What we mean is, if you find issues in the environment or culture of the office, don’t cover them up or turn your head.
An article on Forbes offers an excellent example of this corrective way of thinking: “Managers and business owners don't usually get defensive when somebody points out that their facility's roof is leaking or that there's mold in the pipes. When your roof is leaking or there's mold in the pipes, you call somebody to come out and fix the problem. However, many leaders get defensive when somebody points out that their culture is broken. They say ‘No, our culture is fine -- we just have bad employees!’ and ignore the problem.”
If your managers, including your outsourced c-suite, are supported in projecting their concerns, which are genuinely inspected and repaired, the trust factor between all members of your work team will solidify itself.
Need help understanding how your business can improve trust and maximize your investment in outsourced c-suite roles? We have 30+ years of experience serving in the c-suite including interim roles. Reach out to us today at info@nmblstrategies.com to start a conversation or find more outsourced c-suite resources here.
