How to Build Trust Among Startup Founders and Teams?

According to a study, 60% of startup fails due to poor relationships between the founders ad their teams. They cannot convey their problems or thoughts to each other effectively. Therefore, important information gets misinterpreted or received with a different intention.

Behind every successful startup, there is a team of passionate people who worked toward a common goal. This is only possible when everyone trusts each other, they believe in that person’s capability and a proper time and environment are given instead of pressurizing them.A few other advantages of trust-building between startup founders and their team is mentioned below:

1. Re-define startup culture

When you are building your team, you are also setting up a work culture that will go on for years. It is a combination of trust, values, beliefs, goals, and missions that separate your startup from others. A healthy startup culture allows one to be more productive and loyal to their company.

2. Better execution of your vision
It is the responsibility of the team to understand the vision of their founder and turn them into short-term and attainable goals. These goals are then assigned to the respective members who work hard together and turn the dream of your startup into reality. On the other hand, as a founder, you can focus more on the macro level of the business while your team will look after achieving small targets, and collectively you can achieve one milestone after another.

3. No communication barrier
When there is trust, a communication gap does not exist. Members can communicate effectively with their founders and share unique ideas to improve the product or work culture. And likewise, founders are also able to establish a strong communication line, and information is shared with the same intention.

4. Complementary skills
Every member has a unique set of skills and this trust factor allows them to showcase them at their highest potential. The expertise of the founder and the skills of the team make a startup competent.

5. Strong structure and attract investors
It’s no doubt that trust and understanding between the team and the founders reflect a strong structure that live for many years. For example, TATA company is widely known for its strong values and better understanding between their teams that have been passed down through generations.

Another important advantage of trust building is that it attracts venture capitalists and investors to fund your startup. They always look for a strong team as they know your company is subjected to other market conditions but if your core team is strong, they don’t hesitate to invest.

Note: You can explore more about the need and ways to trust-building among you and your team in the book “THE 7- STEP STARTUP SUCCESS FORMULA- Anu Khanchandani.” You can read chapter 12 to understand the importance of identifying the right team and how to develop trust. This resourceful book will provide insights related to the growth of your startup.

As said by Mr. John Maxwell that teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream but a bad team. It defines the importance of strong understanding and trust between founders and their teams. An experienced and empathetic founder along with a great team can shape up a startup in a way that they could achieve success easily. There are 7 simple ways to build trust that may not happen overnight but will start a virtuous cycle of trust-building between a founder and a team. You can start implementing them one by one in your company:

1. Identify the key positions and develop a strong support system

First of all, start working on identifying the positions that your startup will need such as programmers, R&D team, marketers, SEO team, account managers, etc. Focus on establishing these positions as per your goals and build a strong and accountable support system. Founders and teams should be interdependent for any work. There should not be any confusion or misconception related to work.

2. Define roles and responsibilities clearly
Once you have identified the key positions, define the roles and responsibilities that your team will take care of. Be transparent and mention your role as a founder also. Take suggestions and feedback to solve any future issues. It will also help in building trust between your employees and you.

3. Create a culture of shared values and follow them
Don’t force your values or beliefs system on your organization even though you are a founder. Instead, create them by asking everyone from your team and decide it by taking decisions collectively. Ask your team to follow them and treat these values sincerely as it’s a reflection of your company’s work culture.

4. Identify “doers” instead of “sayers”
It is a practical approach to the trust-building process. It implies picking those employees in your team who are focussed on achieving the task rather than only planning them. You need to pick your team carefully. Check their capabilities, competency, patience level, and problem-solving attitude before hiring them.

5. Accept failures and model vulnerability
You should create an environment where mistakes are welcome and one can be comfortable in showing their vulnerability. It’s another level of trust-building that helps you to know your team exclusively. One can fail as a team or as a founder, but everyone should be able to have their back. You can work together in eliminating such problems that are creating issues in your startup.

6. Build real bonds
Focus on building authentic bonds between you and your team. Do not encourage boot-licking culture or useless gossiping. It harms the bond and breaks trust too.

7. Communicate often and make your team accountable
Be specific while delivering duties to your employees and make them understand their accountability. They should take responsibility for their actions both good and bad. Regular communication can make this happen and this will strengthen the trust factor in your startup.

8. Employees satisfaction and constant assessment
One of the ways to improve your work quality is to assess your team based on various factors and provide regular training to hone their skills. When there will be trust, your team will inform you about the new technology or skill that needs to learn and improve overall efficiency. Trust can also be established when you work toward employee satisfaction whether it’s giving promotions, leaves, trips, or encouraging creative freedom.

9. Avoid homogeneity
Always promote out-of-box thinking and innovation methods to improve your work quality. And for that always hire from multiple yet trustworthy channels to build your team. Try to avoid monotonous work culture and work more on building trust with one another.