Jason Kampmeyer's Online Journal

Absence of Trust: The Outcome

Earlier, I discussed some of the barriers to trust within the work environment. In this following excerpt, I will present various outcomes of this absence of trust.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team presents several outcomes resulting from a lack of trust. I will examine two: large amounts of time and energy are wasted and there is reluctance to extend past established roles. In the classroom, these problems result in a low grade for the dysfunctional group. In the real world, they result in low morale and high turnover. Let's examine these consequences more in depth.

How does a lack of trust in ones peers result in a waste of time and energy? Simply answered, one will spend too much time trying to maintain the image that one believes in portraying to ones peers. This behavior tends to cause a person to waste energy worrying about what he/she should say or do and about how people take what he/she said or did. Of course, how can one consider oneself a peer if he/she conceals oneself from fellow employees? Maybe that fake image is a peer, but in lying one actively pursues inferiority.

Why is there a reluctance to extend past a given task? If a group member is given a certain task, then he/she can conceal the weaknesses that would be apparent in direct work with the rest of the group. Extending help to another group member in their task increases the risk of one's weaknesses being revealed through the mistakes one could make. To prevent this, groups split into individuals that try to mash together an end result. Not only does the work quality decrease, but the time committed increases.

The result of these two outcomes is low morale. People are dissatisfied with the group, with the quality of the work and with the poor scores they receive. Members get frustrated and despondent, leading to a lack of commitment. In the work place this lack of commitment leads to turnover. Thus, an absence of trust can blow a minor problem into a large one.

In the final excerpt, I will cover how to eliminate an absence of trust so that these outcomes may be avoided.