trust Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Dennis E. Gilbert

16
Nov 20
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Workplace Wait and the Consequences that Follow

Tags : consequences stall trust wait workplace

Have you experienced workplace wait? It’s when someone or everyone wants to follow a plan but they are waiting for something else to happen first.

We’re going to improve sales, as soon as we get a new sales manager.

Our quality is off, but next year we’re getting some new equipment.

We need to fix this, but let’s wait until the meeting next week to discuss how.

It happens all the time. You often forget that the period of wait has a price. And like it or not, the organization, the employees, and the customers are paying.

When the organization pays, everyone loses.

Perhaps in some cases, the cost is pushed to the customer. When the customer pays and the value is not recognized, eventually, the organization loses.

Enough pressure on the organization and the employees lose.

What are you waiting for?

Workplace Wait

Opportunity cost matters, everyone gets it. There are also costs associated with trust and value for the customer.

Are there team trust issues?

Join our team, next year you’ll get a promotion.

As soon as we close two more deals, we’re going to buy everyone a new laptop to improve productivity.

We know the shipping department is in shambles but there is nothing we can do until sales improve.

The wait is sometimes really just a stall. It puts a blanket over the problem, covers things up, and creates a future based largely on hope.

Hope often has a timeline. Left unchecked and the people begin to lose trust.

What are your plans?

Future Plans

Planning for the future matters. Forecasting future revenue, customers, and growth help build energy and excitement.

The future comes fast. There are expectations. Missed goals or shifting timelines can delay the forecast.

Sometimes people begin to feel like they’re waiting for nothing. It is a balancing act. A tight rope. Navigation is tricky. Trust and belief wane.

What is the cost of now?

The cost of now is sometimes less expensive than the cost waiting.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

26
Jun 20
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Work From Home Confidence, Do You Have It?

Tags : confidence metrics trust wfh work from home

We all recognize the disruption and the some of the associated changes. Are you or your team working remotely? Do you have work from home confidence?

Any time we have change, we may have some discomfort. Along with that discomfort we may find our anxiety levels creeping up. When we are anxious, we typically don’t listen as well. We often don’t perform at our best, and in severe cases sometimes people can’t really perform at all.

Employee Performance

It may seem difficult to believe but many people are finding increased challenges with working from home.

Employers and managers worry about productivity, efficiency, and results.

Employees may experience various forms of motivation. Some increases perhaps, and some decreases.

The psychology of work shifts. Some people become more efficient with fewer interruptions. Others, well, they feel extreme guilt if they grab a coffee or step away from their work at home desk.

We also can’t forget about the ability to let go. When you leave your home and go to a different work space, it is also easy to pack up and go back home. When you leave, you leave work. Not always as easy when working from home.

Work From Home Confidence

As people we are observers. We are fill in the blank people. As we observe, we make assumptions.

Sometimes when you are having a good day, you don’t understand why someone else is not. When you’re having a not so good day, you wonder how everyone can be so cheery.

It is all based on assumptions.

On initial observation many believe that working from home is a dream job. In practice, it may not be.

As a manager, an employee, or a business owner, keep in mind that what you are experiencing may not be the same as what others are experiencing.

Find more compassion and make sure your team is working hard to avoid anxiety traps.

Confidence in the work that they do and the associated results matter. It matters for everyone.

Build up your team with the use of effective metrics and measurements. Congratulate positive results.

You can help.

And it will make a difference.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

08
Apr 20
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Workforce Disruption and Working From Home

Tags : accountability disruption trust wfh work from home

Certainly, for many, there has been a workforce disruption. For all the businesses and organizations attempting to navigate this pandemic environment, what has changed?

Some have faced tremendous change. They are busy beyond belief. Others have closed doors, either by government pressure or because of a lack of business.

It seems likely the biggest category is somewhere in the middle. Larger organizations are struggling to find the right path and smaller ones are examining how to get by without the horsepower of a larger operation.

This middle group likely faces the most unknown’s and deciding how they will navigate leaves their workforce wondering about their fate.

Popular wisdom suggests a good number of people who have not been displaced by the disruption are in some form, working from home.

Workforce Disruption

Working from home is not the same as being at work only now you are working in a different location. The psychology behind this change affects both the supervisor and the direct report.

Communication has changed, work hours are different, and the normal ways of doing business are of course, disrupted.

The supervisor who led by face-to-face observation is now feeling uneasy about the tasks ahead. The direct report who always waited on the supervisor to guide and steer their daily work is impacted by not knowing or understanding what to do next. Precious time is lost, productivity drops, and without precise metrics and measurements outcomes are unknown.

Working from home, for the supervisor and the direct report, requires a different approach from a conventional workplace.

Communication must be more concise than ever, accountability and responsibility shifts, and trust will be the competitive edge in the battle to the top, or the race to the bottom.

-DEG

Recently, I’ve launch two programs targeted specifically for helping individuals and teams navigate the disruption and work more effectively remotely or in work from home (WFH) environments. Check out Managing Remote Work Teams and Mastering Work From Home.

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

04
Mar 20
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Acquiring Trust Even When In Doubt

Tags : competitive advantage confidence generosity trust

In a thriving service oriented, connection-based economy, trust may be your most important asset or, your most significant weakness. Acquiring trust isn’t always easy, yet it is always worth it.

What does your gut tell you?

Trusting Matters

Many people rely on their gut feel or instincts to assess their level of trust. Trust with vendors. Trust with customers, and of course, trust with teammates.

The backbone of trust may come from confidence, expectations, and certainly past experiences. Insecurity and paranoia may also creep into the picture.

Trust is often about giving. Can you give trust?

If we’re going to explore giving of trust you have to consider generosity.

Trust is largely about generosity. Will your generosity be taken advantage of by others?

In discussions it may quickly turn into a slippery slope.

Let’s be realistic though. Trust only comes from generosity. We can talk about earning trust, but in reality, earning is not really the same as simply giving.

Do you have the confidence in people to give more trust? Have past experiences tarnished your future expectations?

Acquiring Trust

Knowing what to expect and when can help boost the confidence factor with trust. In other words, if you know a teammate can handle the task grant them the trust. You’re giving.

If you are in doubt based on past experiences specifically with this individual or specifically with this type of task, then explore the requirements with others involved in order to boost everyone’s confidence. Then give more trust.

One act of giving trust means that there is the opportunity to earn it.

If you want your brand, whether it is a personal brand or organizational, to go up in value you’re going to have to give more.

In our service oriented, connection-based economy you really don’t have much choice.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

10
Dec 19
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Professional Growth Begins With Trust

Tags : Delegation growth scaling trust

Are you seeking professional growth? Does it surprise you that trust matters for growth?

Consider the small business CEO. He or she has a knack for doing many things. It is not uncommon that this knack is exactly what derails growth.

Sure, the business entity will grow to a point, yet when the responsibility and accountable don’t scale everything will stop and start with the CEO. In the absence, or unavailability of the CEO, nothing starts or finishes.

Workplace Roles and Careers

The same is true for the supervisor or manager. If the working supervisor decides it is easier to do it herself rather than train someone else, boom things fail to start or finish.

That eager board person on the non-profit board, you know the one, she raises her hand for all the volunteer assignments. Nothing starts and nothing finishes.

One person shows are hard to scale. In fact, more than hard, it is nearly impossible. Sure, there may be some scaling but only to a point, then nothing starts and nothing finishes.

Professional Growth

Professional growth starts with trust. When you discover that you can let go and trust another person with the assignment new growth begins.

It doesn’t begin just because you asked. It begins because you stopped, even for just a moment, you stopped being tactical and started being more strategic.

Tactics matter and they are how we execute the strategy. Yet, they can never become the strategy or there won’t be any growth.

Your growth begins with giving trust to others and then maintaining accountability for the quality, accuracy, and completeness of the work.

No trust, no growth, every time.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

05
Dec 19
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Project Drama and Workplace Advancement

Tags : attention drama trust workplace

What do project drama and workplace advancement have in common? They both seem to get attention. Are there other commonalities?

Career minded employees are hungry for opportunity. They often create some of the opportunities by attracting attention to their work.

Attention and Trust

Tesla recently smashed some windows on their new prototype truck. Was this a complete failure or was it really intentional to attract more attention?

Failure or success, it improved visibility. They received huge publicity and many preorders.

Many people would quickly suggest that means success. They only question some would ask is, “Can you trust the product?” If the glass breaks that easily, what else may happen?

Research suggests that customers who have experienced product or service challenges but have had their challenge resolved satisfactorily are actually more loyal than those customers who never had a problem at all. It may seem strange, yet it is true.

Project Drama

Back to the workplace. Does the squeaky wheel get the attention? The project that nearly fails as compared to the project that moved flawlessly from step-to-step? Which one received more attention? Which scenario creates more trust?

Many people wonder why Alice was promoted instead of Jane. After all, Alice’s work seems a little shaky.

We are in a society that is craving more and more attention. Social media feeds get flooded every day with attention seeking propaganda. Something as silly as “the cat meme” gets lots of attention. Smudge became popular overnight.

Onlookers often get irritated with attention seekers. Creating project drama is not a recommended practice. Yet, sometimes you have to toot your own horn and make some noise.

Breaking glass, literally, or metaphorically (glass ceiling, perhaps) also seems to attract some attention.

Does it help with workplace advancement? Does it inspire trust and create success?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

03
Dec 19
-

Cell Phones Off and Engaging Your Team

Tags : attention meeting effectiveness trust workplace engagement

You’ve likely heard it at the start of the meeting, “All cell phones off!” Is this the best way to engage your team? Is it the only way?

It is interesting to see the differences in organizational culture. Some meetings invite you to BYOD (bring your own device) and others start with a command to shut everything off.

Attention is a Resource

Attention is often hard to capture. When we don’t get the attention we seek we tend to get louder, send more email, or hold more meetings.

In today’s social and workplace climate attention is scarce. We are always in a battle for what’s happening next on our cell phones, what short video to watch, or a clever .gif file capturing a few seconds of our time.

We have a hyper active society that has learned not to waste anything, especially time. Time wasters and energy zappers are quickly dismissed and the attention shifts to, “What’s next?”

Cell Phones Off or Trust

Should we be turning our cell phones on? What really captures attention and creates engagement? Is workplace trust a factor?

Trust becomes a bigger element in engagement. Since we consciously or subconsciously begin to feel more and more tricked into giving our attention.

We are apprehensive of the email tag line, the text message from an unknown number, and phone calls from unknown callers are seldom answered.

These are trust issues. Things that waste our time. It is the clever language, the trickery, or the click bait that makes us shy away.

For most organizations trust is a competitive advantage. Organizations with a trusting culture do much better when compared with their competition. Organizations lacking trust have much deeper problems.

Do you trust your team to give appropriate attention and use their time wisely? Is your culture engaging and focused? Tough questions.

As I write this we are about to launch into a new decade. Will it be a decade where we turn technology off, or on?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

30
Sep 19
-

Making Workplace Promises Bigger

Tags : micromanagement promises trust workplace

A promise is not just about confidentiality. A promise is often about a commitment to doing your best work. Are you making workplace promises that you will keep?

Trust is element often discussed during leadership training. Trust is critical for our communication, teamwork, and is critical for organizations to realize their true competitive advantage.

Changing Outcomes

Trust often begins with a promise. Sometimes it is a verbal commitment, a head nod, or a hand shake. In other cases, it is assumed. Attend the meeting and you’re on the hook for assignments.

Workplace promises may be a force that tugs against the micromanager. When there is greater trust, there is less oversight. Less oversight means more freedom of movement, creativity, and innovation.

As a result of promises kept, things tend to go far beyond trust. Promises make a difference for outcomes of the organization and will help individuals build better careers.

Are you making promises? Can you make them bigger?

Workplace Promises

Professional growth often starts with a promise. When the promise becomes bigger, more meaningful, and delivers with greater impact your credibility increases. Done repetitively across time, a sense of consistency develops.

More credibility, greater consistency, and well managed communication will mean you are becoming a trusted resource.

Making bigger promises will test your vulnerability, improve your ability to assess risk, and perform at a much higher level.

We often write our own story. When you are committed to making promises that you will keep, you’re making a difference for everyone. Including yourself.

Make bigger promises. Keep them.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

05
Sep 19
-

Trusted Connections In a New Age

Tags : brand connections image reputation trust

Are you apprehensive about taking the call, accepting a friend request from someone you don’t know, or opening an email message from an unknown sender? Trusted connections are more important now than ever before.

In a New Age

Occasionally I will take a call from an unknown, no caller identification, inbound telephone call. It is always a moment of risk and uncertainty.

Absolutely, I won’t know who is calling until there is a form of introduction on the call. I’m often listening for the connecting click, a familiar sound that means I’m being routed to telemarketing agent.

Sometimes as a voice begins speaking, I’m uncertain if it is a real person or a bot.

For pictures or social media, there are apps that apply filters, enhancing lighting, and change our appearance.

We have to be careful of fake products, imitations, and illegally cloned merchandise. Is the Louis Vuitton real, or a very cleverly produced imitation?

Even our food is becoming different. Is the Impossible Burger really possible?

Technology is writing a new script. People call it AI, or perhaps machine learning. Some experts will advise that those are two completely different concepts, yet socially people toss around the words synonymously.

Trusted Connections

Today your brand, your image, and your reputation will matter more than ever before. Trust is becoming more nebulous and at the same time more important.

In the workplace, we often consider the trusted advisor, the political currents around the office, and the latest message about benefits or policy from human resources. Are these trusted connections?

Marketing programs test the limits, shift your thinking, and make you wonder if there is a disclaimer in the fine print. Are these real users, or only a paid actor? We know the answer, but only when we pause to think it through.

If one thing is going to matter more tomorrow, it may begin with trust. The suggestion is that connections and community represent our future.

Who will you trust?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

05
Aug 19
-

Whatever You Do, We Trust You.

Tags : accountability rules trust workplace

Workplace trust seems like a reasonable component of any flourishing organization. What are the signs of trust? Does your team have it?

A small entrepreneurial effort may not require a lot of rules. A few people working together to add value and build a growing business, they have each other’s back. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

Workplace Trust

As organizations grow a little bigger, things often start to change. Trust often changes.

Do supervisors micromanage because they lack trust? You bet.

Are there rules of engagement, rules for decisions, and rules to track effort? You bet.

Are there rules about keeping the rules? Yes, often.

Organizations of all sizes can be wildly successful and exciting. The difference between small and large often requires more management of the organizational dynamics.

Mistakes sometimes pile up and can become a new rule.

When accountability seems to fall short, there is a new rule. There are rules to protect the bottom line, rules to protect the organization from legal actions, and likely some rules to protect the customer.

Rules Pile Up

As the rules pile up, the pace of the organization slows.

I don’t know if we can do that, check back next week.

That isn’t my job, I’ll have to get someone who can help.

Next week is our meeting, we’ll discuss it then.

Rules slow the pace.

The business owner who is a plumber and actively works in the field doesn’t need to check with the boss. The same is true for the print shop, the landscaper, and the garage builder.

Do you have a growing business enterprise? Do you trust your employees? How do you show it? What does the customer feel?

A lack of trust becomes costly in many ways.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Tag Archives: trust

Nov 20

-

Workplace Wait

Future Plans

Jun 20

-

Employee Performance

Work From Home Confidence

Apr 20

-

Workforce Disruption

Mar 20

-

Trusting Matters

Acquiring Trust

Dec 19

-

Workplace Roles and Careers

Professional Growth

Dec 19

-

Attention and Trust

Project Drama

Dec 19

-

Attention is a Resource

Cell Phones Off or Trust

Sep 19

-

Changing Outcomes

Workplace Promises

Sep 19

-

In a New Age

Trusted Connections

Aug 19

-

Workplace Trust

Rules Pile Up

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