The Connection Between Trust And Team Innovation

Unpopular Opinion: It doesn't matter how many days a week you bring people back to the office if your organization lacks employee trust. I recently had a conversation with a young professional who believed that they couldn't speak up within their organization because, at one point, they were told by their manager that they didn't have enough experience to have an opinion. This type of behavior damages the individual's personal career growth, including their ability to develop the skills and experience if they don't feel like they can question their own assumptions and the assumptions of others. It also damages the overall organization's ability to succeed since it prevents people from bringing their best ideas forward and working together collaboratively and productively. Yet, in all the conversations around RTO from leaders, so much is centered around a need for more productivity and innovation. Trust is the glue that holds teams together, empowers individuals, and creates an environment where employees feel valued and supported. When employees trust their employers and colleagues, they are more likely to be engaged in their work, perform at their best, and take risks that lead to innovation. Numerous studies have highlighted the significant impact of trust on organizational success. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, companies with high levels of trust experience 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity levels, and 76% higher engagement rates compared to low-trust organizations. So how can employers cultivate trust in the workplace? It's not by getting people to show up to the office more. Here are a few key strategies: 1️⃣ Lead by example: Trust starts at the top. Employers must demonstrate trustworthiness through their actions and decisions. When leaders consistently act with integrity, transparency, and fairness, it sets the tone for a culture of trust throughout the organization. 2️⃣ Foster open communication: Encourage open dialogue and active listening within teams. When employees feel heard and valued, they are likelier to trust their colleagues and share ideas freely. Regular team meetings, feedback sessions, and opportunities for collaboration can all contribute to building trust. 3️⃣ Provide autonomy and empowerment: Trust goes hand in hand with giving employees the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. When individuals feel trusted and empowered, they are more likely to go above and beyond, take calculated risks, and develop innovative solutions. 4️⃣ Recognize and reward trust: Acknowledge and appreciate trustworthy behavior. Recognize employees who consistently demonstrate trustworthiness and create a culture where trust is celebrated. This can be done through public recognition, rewards, or small gestures like a simple thank you. #management #leadership #returntooffice #employeeexperience #employeeengagment #trust

By day, I was leading product, then marketing and comms teams in Silicon Valley tech and by night, I did something most people wouldn't (and should!)... Improv and stand-up comedy with a stint at Second City for sketch. Yes, it taught me so many things about writing, story and creativity. More than that...it transformed how I think about story and innovation - individually and collectively as a team or culture. Yes, both will make you funnier. That's NOT even The Holy Grail (which is a classic, amiright?!) Ever curious, I thought, "why can't teams and cultures be like this?" They can. Here's the thing... Innovation and storytelling in teams happen when trust, connection and courage exist. Those first 2 help with courage. If your teams aren't innovating and telling bigger brilliant stories...it's not because they don't have them. It's that humans NEED a net of trust and connection to sustain courage. The biggest innovations, stories, ideas happen when courage fills the air... Leaders, entrepreneurs, any one really....HACK YOUR INNOVATION #1 focus on increasing trust (positive laughter w/o judgment builds connection, trust). When we laugh together, we sew deeper emotional bonds. #2 build team goals and a team net to increase output (stand-up is great and even then you can build with your audience, ex: crowd work, you are creating WITH your audience). THINK improv, it's all YES AND with teams. Two big things to work on: "I got your back." Make your partner look amazing! That means experimentation and supporting new ideas. Relax, you don't have to marry them. Just date them respectfully - you don't have to call them in the morning! #3 Welcome experimentation, humor and reframe what "fail" means - have open convos with teams. 1 and 2 help build a NET. It doesn't mean no bad ideas. It means Bad ideas are welcome as part of a process to get to GREAT ideas. You gotta kiss some ideas frogs to get to those princess ideas (yeah, I changed the metaphor!). WORK WITH ME I help create braver leaders, teams and cultures so people and innovation thrive. From inspirational and humorous talks, keynotes to facilitated learning programs, let's increase brave innovation capacity WHILE making people happier, healthier too. My book, "Stop Boring Me!" is on Amazon and it's all about transformation and innovation with laughter and improvisation. Humor is the ultimate algorithm(SM). Kathy-ism. YOUR TURN How do you channel your laughter into bravery? #keynotespeaker #organizationaldevelopment #innovation #highperformingteams #storytelling #laughter

In our latest Workforce Index survey of more than 10K desk workers around the globe, my team at Slack spotted a curious finding in the data. Workers who are using AI aren’t just more productive, they also show notably higher scores for employee engagement and experience, including:  👍 +23% ability to manage stress 😄 +24% overall satisfaction with work 🙌 +25% flexibility ❤️ +29% more likely to say they feel highly passionate about their work Slack researchers aren’t the only ones seeing this connection; I know others who study desk workers are also finding similar trends in their data sets. People who use AI at work just seem to be having an all-around markedly better time on the job. So what’s up with that? Is it some kind of AI magic? Here’s my theory, based on clues in the data: the unifying factor is not AI. It’s trust. In analyzing survey responses, we found that desk workers who feel trusted by their employers are 94% more likely to have tried AI for work-related tasks. And that tracks with a key learning we’ve long observed in our research: interpersonal trust pops as the number one driver of employee productivity and engagement — more than years of experience an employee has, their job level, where they work (remote, hybrid, in-office), or numerous other factors we measure.  The teams with high degrees of interpersonal trust are the teams that feel the safest and most supported to experiment with new technologies, including AI. They have more flexibility and less stress. Employees who feel trusted also feel the most satisfaction and passion for their work. Distrust within a team, particularly feeling like your manager doesn’t trust you, withers productivity and inhibits innovation. Trust, on the other hand, acts like fuel. 🚀 My takeaway? Feeling trusted to succeed is the key that unlocks workplace success. If you want to ready your team for the AI revolution, you must show your employees you trust them.

Sometimes innovation isn’t about adding more — it’s about removing fear. On a recent trip, I walked through a call center that ran like a well-oiled machine. Everything on time. Everything measured. Everything controlled. But something was missing. There was no hum of curiosity. No energy of possibility. No sparks of “What if we tried it this way?” Just silence. And I could feel it — the absence of permission to think differently. It reminded me of something simple but profound: Innovation doesn’t thrive in structure. It thrives in safety. You can’t measure your way into progress if your people don’t feel free to speak up. The suggestion box stays empty not because people don’t have ideas — but because they don’t believe it’s safe to share them. So here’s a question I’ve been asking myself:Am I creating a culture where ideas flow freely? Or one where silence feels safer than trying something new? If your team isn’t experimenting, take a step back. Look beyond the dashboards. And ask yourself: Do they feel seen? Heard? Empowered? Because true innovation starts with trust. And sometimes, the most radical thing a leader can do…is get back to the basics.

I sat in on a few leadership team meetings last week and I have to tell you, your team's best ideas are dying in silence. Not because they don't have them. Because they're afraid to share them. I've been seeing this pattern everywhere: → Companies invest millions in "innovation initiatives" → Leaders demand "out of the box thinking" → Teams nod politely in meetings But the best idea? Never make it past the mental draft stage. The data might be theoretical, but what I know from experience is: When psychological safety goes up, innovation explodes. When fear creeps in, creativity flatlines. Look at your own team: - Do they challenge your ideas openly? - Do they experiment without fear of failure? - Do they bring problems AND solutions? If you're not getting 3 YES answers, you're suffocating innovation. The most innovative companies I work with don't just talk about psychological safety.... They build it. Every day. Every meeting. Every interaction. Because here's what they know: Trust isn't a "nice to have." It's the foundation everything else is built on. Want weekly insights on building high-trust, high-performance teams? → Follow me for more straight talk on leadership → Subscribe to my newsletter: www.markodonnell.me