Building trust has different forms. But the first action passes by learning how the other person prefers certain things. If you do things that are against the other person’s preferences, then chances are that you won’t be in a good relationship with them. All relationships have three entities in them. The first and the second are you and the other person. The third one is the relationship itself. These questions are related to knowing the other person but contribute to building the third entity greatly, your relationship. The third entity requires more work than you think. These questions are the first steps in building it.
Starting as a new manager requires building trust within reports. Trust is tricky because it has multiple forms depending on the person. Each person’s cultural background impacts how they form trust. But luckily, there are some questions that help every person. Ask these questions in your first one-on-ones in addition to the ones mentioned above:
- How do I know when you’re in a bad mood?
- How do you prefer praise, in public or private?
- What is your preferred method of communication for serious feedback? Do you prefer written form to have time and think about it or have a call instead?
- Are there any manager behaviors that you know you hate?
- Why did you decide to work here? (focus on their story)
- Do you have clear career goals? How can I help achieve them?
- Source(s): The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier
