Stakeholders that trust each other can bring about desired change much more rapidly than they can without it. Yet, trust is not a given – you have to work at it, build it, and continually assess it.
Trust is not a skill or a competency, making it hard to define and measure. That is because trust, at its core, is a relational process. Trust lies “in between”: in-between people and people, in-between people and organizations, and in-between people and events. It is because of the dynamic nature of trust itself that we look to process models to understand how it works. Therefore, our work does not examine trust as character qualities or traits, since relationships vary widely based on context – that is, within the “people-to-people,” “people-to-event” and “people-to-organization” interface. We believe trust is better measured through a process approach that examines how exchanges unfold within a relational system over time.
Trust can be built through a mutual process known as reciprocity, where you repay someone in kind for what they have done or you expect them to do. Drawing on the literature on trust building processes, we developed a process for practitioners to think about, and then conceptually map and measure trust building. We focus on three simple, reciprocal building blocks that can help organizations diagnose where their partnership is missing these elements and how they can build it.
1) Common goals – What are the shared or common goal/s within your partnership? As you work on achieving them, do you share power, authority and responsibility (i.e., distribute leadership)?
2) Self interests – How are you able to identify and fulfill your own motivations or interests for participating? How does participating in the larger group help you meet these interests, whether they are intrinsic (such as for fulfillment of self worth and belonging) and/or extrinsic (such as for an improved reputation and tangible rewards)? It is important to recognize self interests should be identified at multiple levels in a partnership, and that they can change over time.
3) Gratitude/Indebtedness – Do stakeholders thank each other, their networks, and/or publicly acknowledge their indebtedness in some way?
Here’s how the three building blocks can work together to build trust. When someone meets your self interest — needs for belonging, self-worth or tangible needs – and you say thank you, you acknowledge the gift and express appreciation. When people are thanked, more often than not, they are more likely to do it again.
As groups fulfill common goals and self interests, giving and receiving gratitude is a necessary component in building trust. It helps relationships grow. As relationships grow, stakeholders come closer to achieving common goals. Those reaching a common goal who work together most effectively are those willing to share power, responsibility and authority to those lower on the power ladder.
Achieving self interest and common goals and expressing gratitude/indebtedness are a self-reinforcing reciprocal cycle, leading to higher levels of trust and greater efficiency toward desired group change.
We shared more about these concepts in July 2020 through an hour and a half training hosted by the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona with community-based organizations, and the Zoom recording can be accessed here.
