When trust breaks in a team, it slowly tears culture, collaboration, and confidence from the inside.”
Two weeks ago, during my 1-1 coaching session, a Scrum Master highlighted a challenge with me.
‘I feel helpless. My team does not trust each other and I don’t know how to fix this issue’
And if you are a Scrum Master reading this, you know that feeling too well.
You are not their boss.
You are not their performance manager.
But you are the one standing at the centre when trust collapses.
You sense the tension in the Daily Scrum
You notice the silence in Retrospectives
You feel the invisible walls forming between developers.
Here are few signs of a team, if there is no trust:
- People avoid speaking up, fear of judgment or criticism.
- Work becomes individualistic, not collaborative, everyone protects their tasks.
- Blame culture starts forming, especially when sprint goals slip.
- Lack of accountability, people hide mistakes instead of surfacing issues early.
If even one of these feels familiar, you are dealing with a team where trust has cracked.
Here are few suggestions to rebuild the trust:
Create psychological safety: Encourage open conversations by celebrating honesty instead of perfection.
- Facilitate vulnerability-based sessions: Use activities like ‘What I need from you’ or ‘Personal maps’ to humanize relationships.
- Address conflicts early: Guide difficult conversations, don’t avoid them.
- Model trust-building behaviour: Be transparent, own mistakes openly, and ask for feedback, your behaviour sets the tone.
- Shift the team from blame to problem-solving: Use frameworks like ‘Five Whys’ to focus on causes, not people.
You can’t force trust.
But you can create the environment where trust becomes possible again.
A team without trust cannot deliver value, even with the best tools, processes, and talent.
As a Scrum Master, your real superpower is helping the team feel safe enough to speak, share, disagree, and grow.
Trust is rebuilt through courageous conversations and consistent behaviors.
If you are struggling with a low-trust team, message me and I will help you to handle the difficult team dynamics.
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