WHEN TECHNICIANS BYPASS THE REPAIR PLANNER, THE ISSUE ISN’T THE TASK—IT’S TRUST.
The second edition of this series explores the foundational elements of trust in the workplace through a real-life coaching conversation between industry partners.
This edition highlights the critical role of visible competence and proven outcomes in building trust and off ers practical strategies leaders can use to strengthen delegation and team confidence.
HE: I had a question from one of my managers that stumped me.
SHE: Would you like to tell me what they shared?
HE: She asked me why when she gives repair procedures to her technicians, they take them and execute: But when her Repair Planner provides the same information to the same technicians they still go ask her. She is delegating the work only to have it come back to her.
SHE: What about that stumped you?
HE: How do I explain why that’s happening?
SHE: How do you explain why “what’” is happening.
HE: Why the technician doesn’t trust the repair planner.
SHE: Ok. Why do you think the repair planner isn’t trusted by the technicians?
HE: That’s the thing. I don’t know. The repair planner is following the same process. If I did the research they would trust it. When my manager does the research they trust it.
SHE: That’s interesting. Let’s discuss how trust is built?
HE: Ok.
SHE: Core principal one is integrity. Would your technicians say your repair planner is a person who keeps their word? Does what they say they’ll do. Shows up on time. Walks their talk.
HE: Completely. He is former military. At work early. Breaks at break time. A very regimented person.
SHE: Do you think the others feel that about him?
HE: Yes.
SHE: Principal two is intent. What about his intentions? Would he intentionally try to mess up a colleague or a repair? Take advantage of a customer?
HE: Absolutely not. First off they wouldn’t work for me. Second off , its just not in his DNA. He’s about doing what’s right. When he makes an error he accepts personal responsibility with his team and corrects the error right away.
SHE: That’s interesting.
HE: So why don’t they trust him?
SHE: What do you think is missing?
HE: That is what I don’t know. I know it is trust. But what about him don’t they trust?
SHE: Number three is capability. Is it fair to say that he is capable and trained to research?
HE: Yes.
SHE: Are your technicians aware of his training, and do they believe that he is capable of doing the research?
HE: I don’t know if they know the extent of the training.
SHE: In my experience, trust is absolutely dependent on your knowledge of someone’s capability. For instance, do you trust me?
HE: Of course.
SHE: Would you trust me to remove your gallbladder?
HE: That isn’t trust!
SHE: Would you trust a doctor to do it?
HE: Yes.
SHE: Any doctor? Your family doctor? Your dentist? Your chiropractor?
HE: Well no. A gallbladder doctor. Or whatever they’re called.
SHE: Your knowledge of a person’s capability to perform the specific task is 100% related to your trust in them. If I actually am not qualified or cannot demonstrate to you that I am qualified to remove your gallbladder you won’t trust me. Would that be fair to say?
HE: Yes.
SHE: Principal four is results. I’m curious how long the repair planner has been working with these technicians?
HE: About 6 months.
SHE: How long ago did the manager hand off the responsibility of researching to the repair planner?
HE: I think that’s pretty recent.
SHE: If we return to our previous analogy, let’s imagine that we are at the emergency room and you need your gallbladder removed. The surgeon who sees you has all the credentials but tells you they have never removed a gallbladder before. How much trust would you have in this surgeon?
HE: Not a lot.
SHE: Why?
HE: They have no track record.
SHE: Exactly. No track record of results. But if the surgeon had successfully performed the same procedure 100 times before without any complications…
HE: …I would feel better.
SHE: Understandably. So why do you think the technicians don’t trust the repair planner the way they trust your Manager?
HE: They don’t really know that he is qualified to get the information, and he doesn’t have a track record of accurate results.
SHE: So now that you can explain why this happening to your manager, what would you suggest her next steps be?
HE: She can continue to validate the repair planner’s results, communicate the qualifi - cations and training of the repair planner to her technicians, and encourage the repair planner to be patient, continue walking the talk, showing his integrity and good intentions. In time he will earn trust as they get to see that he is delivering results.
SHE: That sounds like great plan. I’m excited to hear how this rolls out in our next session.
