How to build trust at a new job

One of the most daunting tasks when you start a new job is developing trust with your new colleagues. Whether you’re new to the world of work or an experienced hand, you are still starting at ground-zero with your new colleagues when you walk in the door. While you’re likely to get the benefit of the doubt, you still need to develop a rapport quickly and help people to see that you can be relied on.

Here are four suggestions to get you started.

1. Find a couple of quick wins

You want your new colleagues to see that you can be successful at your work. Unfortunately, many projects can take a while to complete and determining whether those projects are successful can take even longer. That means you need to be strategic about the first few projects you work on.

Find some things that you can do that can be completed quickly and are likely to succeed. Those “quick wins” won’t be your legacy in the workplace, but they are a great way to help you develop a reputation as someone who gets things done and does them well. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also get involved in longer-term projects early on, but make sure that you have a couple of things that will complete quickly in the initial mix.

2. Be a good listener

I say this a lot. You have to resist the urge to dominate the first few meetings you attend and conversations you have with colleagues in an attempt to dazzle people with your knowledge and skills. Instead, you want to learn about how things function and what problems your colleagues are trying to solve.

In particular, listen for two key things. First, what are the issues your colleagues are dealing with? Ask questions to better understand their projects and concerns. This way, you can attach your comments and efforts specifically to their concerns to demonstrate not only that you have knowledge and skills, but that you can bring them to bear to solve active problems.

Second, you want to understand local norms. How does the organization like to get things done? You may bring new ways of accomplishing goals from your prior experience, but you want to make your recommendations in the context of understanding the way things are done now. That way, your recommendations will feel constructive.

3. Ask for help and admit mistakes

No matter how much experience you have had before you get to a new workplace, you’re going to struggle with some things. When you are unsure what to do, there is a tendency to want to cover your ignorance and find a way to muddle through. A better strategy is to ask questions early and often and request help when you need it. If you don’t know how something is done in your new organization, ask around for the best place to get information on key processes. When you get stuck with something, ask your colleagues, your supervisor, and even your direct reports for assistance.

Similarly, you’re not going to ace everything you do in your new role. Try as you might (and careful as you may be), you’re going to make some mistakes. The trick to life is to make as few mistakes as possible. When you do blow it, let your supervisor and key colleagues know as soon as possible so that they can also help to rectify the situation.

It takes confidence to follow these recommendations. Admitting ignorance means recognizing that not knowing something is not a weakness. Instead, asking questions is a sign of a willingness to learn. Likewise, owning your mistakes quickly sends a message to the people you work with that you realize how costly a mistake can be and that you want to do anything you can to avoid having the consequences of an error create a bigger problem than the mistake itself. Both of these ways of engaging with your team will build trust that you can be relied on.

4. Quality beats quantity

As you are thinking about building trust, you may want to engage with your colleagues constantly and point out your work as a way of showing them what you can contribute. There is good psychological evidence, though, that the quality of what you tell people about ultimately matter more than the quantity.

When people assess the value you bring to an organization, they will think about the contributions you have made that they can remember. Then, they average the value of those contributions. Telling people about a few high-value things gives you a reputation of doing things that matter. Telling them about a few high-value things and many things that don’t matter much at all can actually drag down people’s evaluation of your worth (even though in the second scenario you have told them about more things you have done for the organization overall).

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t find lots of ways to contribute. You should do as much as you can. But if you’re going to do things that you want your colleagues to know about and use to form their impression of you, focus just on a couple of significant actions rather than calling their attention to every single thing you have done no matter how big or small.

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