7 Signs Colleagues Don’t Trust You and How to Change That
Trust is the basis for efficient relationships and knowing how to diagnose its lack in people working together is the first step to building strong teams and business. Plus, it’s the foundation for your successful career.
In this article, you’ll learn the signs that colleagues don’t trust you, thus preventing you from working at your best and reaching your potential.
So, here go those red flags:
They double-check your work
When you are a new employee on probation, you can understand the constant monitoring from managers. But even so, there’s a difference between having a mentor and regular control in search of mistakes. The latter is a clear demonstration of distrust and skepticism.
They ask you to CC them in emails
Or, they ask you not to reply to emails but use templates they prepared beforehand.
The need to feel trust is a fundamental human desire, as urgent as air for breathing. You wouldn’t want a partner to look over your shoulder every time you send a text, would you? The same is with the need to CC someone in every email: It causes resentment.
If you see this type of supervising and monitoring becoming the norm, do your best to take the initiative to find out the reason.
They don’t support you
Support is critical at work for better efficiency, productivity, and satisfaction from what you do. If you notice that your whole team or a separate colleague doesn’t hurry up to help you, it can be a signal of problems with loyalty and a symptom of a more serious problem than mere distrust of you personally:
The bigger the competition and the higher the level of mutual aggression, the less room is left for trust.
Often, you’re the last one to get the news
If you aren’t in the loop of your team, it’s clear there’s a gap worth fixing. It’s super challenging to do a job if you’re out of the information flow: If you’re the last one to get the news about changes, it can lead to awkward situations with clients or colleagues.
Sure thing, you should avoid the vulgar urge to know anything and everything; but when it comes to accessing the information you need to perform your job duties, it’s clear that you should keep up to date with the team news.
You get passive-aggressive comments
Subtle outbursts and passive-aggressive comments can make you lose your temper, even if your self-esteem is strong. It would be great if everyone were straightforward in their thoughts, narrative, and actions, but it doesn’t work that way.
The competition takes its toll. Therefore, it is worth avoiding a situation where you listen to endless ironic comments about yourself. It’s no longer a matter of trust but psychological balance and health. And it’s a matter of your work effectiveness.
Colleagues don’t rely on you
It flatters and warms the soul when someone asks you for advice, agree? It’s also a sign of trust in your experience and knowledge. But what to do if no one comes to you?
It might make you wonder if your judgments are that good, but big chances are it’s not about the value of your experience. The truth is, there’s a lack of trust somewhere, preventing people from reaching out to you for help.
You have no authority to make decisions
If you are responsible for something but need constant approval from your supervisor, more experienced colleagues, and other types of employees to do your job, it’s a red flag.
Either it signals that a colleague does not trust you, or there is a problem in your company’s culture. Either way, it’s worth reaching out to management and coworkers to change this status quo.
When you are a new employee on probation, you can understand the constant monitoring from managers.
LESLEY VOS
Now that you know all the signs, you might recognize three, five, or even all seven to be about you. What to do?
How to remain efficient when colleagues don’t trust you
Change a job to work in a team with a high trust level. Easier said than done because such professionals are few and hard to find.
Secure the support of a friend. Find at least one person in the team with whom you can build trusting friendships. They can serve as an appealing example to others: Neuroscientists have already described such scenarios and claim it works.
When you see colleagues who don’t trust you, discuss the situation with them and your supervisor. For this tip to work, you need to have some skills in conflict management.
Stay calm. It’s a surprisingly effective strategy for building trust: If you can come up with positive and constructive communication in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, you have a chance to start the process of increasing trust in your team.
And last but not least:
Develop your social cognitive competence. Trust in oneself and others is a fascinating social task, intellectual and emotional. It is not easy, but the results will always exceed expectations.
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