Karel Mc Intosh
Contributor

While surfing the Internet recently, I pulled up Yahoo.com to check my e-mail. But before I could click sign in, a headline on the homepage jumped out at me. “How to spot a liar in the workplace” it read, and immediately it got me thinking about the issue of trust at work, and how it affects us.



Trust, what does it mean? According to the Oxford dictionary, trust is the “firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something”, and the “acceptance of the truth of a statement without proof”. Great expectations often accompany trust. For example, if you trust someone, you expect him or her to not “carry news”, divulging information you shared in a conversation.

When trust is extinct
In the workplace, we form professional, and personal relationships. In both instances, a level of trust is necessary. We trust our colleagues to carry the baton for projects. We expect them to assist us where they can or where it falls under their portfolio. We expect that they won’t try to sabotage us. We expect that if we request information or confirmation that they have performed certain tasks, they will tell us the truth. Having a high level of trust within our teams also eases stress, since you don’t have to worry about anyone “stabbing you in the back”, and it takes away the added pressure of feeling insecure and defensive. When you don’t have to fight “the enemy”, you’re free to be more productive and easygoing with colleagues, and this presents an ideal situation.

However, the fact is that some people do encounter tense, over-competitive, and outright offensive working relations. So, how do you operate when you don’t trust your colleagues? On the administrative front, you’ve got to ensure you can track all processes and actions. Therefore, save outgoing and incoming e-mails and documents regarding project statuses, and document conversations in “for your information” e-mails.

This may seem tedious, but for those who operate in unfriendly situations, this is necessary so that if you need to defend yourself to management when “bacchanal breaks out”, you can. It’s really sordid to have to imagine these kinds of situations, but they’re a reality for some people. Another strategy includes attempting to cultivate a respectful relationship with the person in question, regardless of the tension. Say good morning, and good afternoon. Follow company protocol and procedure. Let no one ever be able to accuse you of disrespect. You’ve also got to be able to stand up for yourself.

When personal relationships become risky
Many friendships have been formed in the workplace. When a colleague is easygoing, fun, great to work with, and even shares your interests, it becomes very easy to form a connection. However, in the early stages, it’s prudent to be cautious. I’m not encouraging cynicism, but the fact is that like romantic relationships, platonic friendships go through a honeymoon stage, and you never know when an incident can make your friendship go through a 360-degree turn. When this happens, sometimes your “friend” may choose to divulge some of your personal information to others, expose your weaknesses or spread untruths. Therefore, until you’ve had enough time to discern a person’s character, you’ve got to be wise about the type of information you share.

Additionally, you’ve got to consider the relationships colleagues have with each other. You may get along great with some people, but then they can also have close friendships with other colleagues. The reality of friendships is that friends sometimes discuss each other. Here’s a scenario. You’re pregnant, but you don’t know who the father is. You became pregnant while on a short break from your boyfriend, and were involved with someone else. You mention different snippets of your situation to various colleagues. However, what you don’t know is that each person mentions what you said to the next, and so they piece the story together, and as a result everyone in the office “knows your business”. This sounds scandalous, doesn’t it? But you know what, it sometimes happens.

Trust is something that can be easily gained, and easily lost, and keeping trust is always the best objective. You’ve also got to know when to not allow other people’s gripes to affect you. For example, you may have started a new job, and past employees who you know may have made negative comments or given anecdotes about people at your new workplace. But sometimes their complaint may not be yours, so you should really try to avoid letting their views cloud your judgement, and perpetuate unjustified distrust.

Word of mouth will never go out of style. When the company grapevine is spreading rapidly, it’s easy to share information that was discussed in private discussions, and sometimes your own words come right back to you. Whenever you engage in conversations in the workplace, you’ve got to consider the option that your words may spread, and that your integrity will remain intact should this happen. Reliability, truth and ability are key aspects of trust in the workplace. While trust may be an intangible, it’s based on actions, and because of this, you have the power to determine and adjust to the levels of comfort and trust in the workplace.

Karel Mc Intosh is a Trinidad-based public relations and communications professional. You can visit her online at her blog www.caribbeanprblog.com, and contact her at caribbeanprblog@yahoo.com.