In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose “– the more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the situation with our work environments and trust. Since March 2020, the beginning of the COVID Pandemic, our work environments continue to be reshaped. In many situations, going from 100% remote to a hybrid situation, i.e. certain percentage in-person/in-office or some coworkers in office and some remote, with continuing fluidity.

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Despite our ever-changing work environment and its impact on how we interact, what has not changed is what builds trusted relationships. And, trusted relationships are key for our success as Project Managers.

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So how do Project Managers build trusted relationships? Enter an old friend, the Trust Equation by Charles Green. The Trust Equation is a favorite model of trust. The model details four components that affect trust. Three of them increase a person’s trustworthiness: credibility, reliability and intimacy. The fourth one, self-interest, reduces a person’s trustworthiness. The equation can be written as:

• Credibility has to do with knowledge base. Are we knowledgeable about our subject work area?
• Reliability has to do with our actions. Do we do what we said we were going to do?
• Intimacy has to do with how secure we feel with sharing personal information with someone. Are we willing to be vulnerable with that person?
• And, finally self-orientation has to do with our focus and how much we align to the interest of others versus ourselves.

Given this model, Project Managers can increase their trustworthiness by “simply” increasing the numerator (credibility, reliability, intimacy) or decreasing the denominator (how self-oriented you are). Decreasing the denominator (or how self-oriented you are) is especially impactful in ongoing relationships, which are most common for Project Managers.

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While this trust Equation by Charles Green is only one of several models for building trust, it is simple, relatable and provides some guidance on how to become more trustworthy as a Project Manager.

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If you are interested in learning more about building trust and obtaining resources on this topic, let us know.