Practical People Skills for Building Trust on Teams and with Partners
Melissa Eggleston
User Experience Researcher and Designer
Maya Israni
Digital Services Expert, United States Digital Service
Florence Kasule
Director Of Procurement, United States Digital Service
Owen Seely
User Experience Researcher and Designer, United States Digital Service
Andrea Schneider
Project Manager and Lead, United States Digital Service
Summary
Do you think you have great people skills? How do you know? Lots of us are never taught critical behaviors that build trust with others. In the government, trust is often the currency that helps build momentum and gets things done. In this panel with experienced professionals from the U.S. Digital Service and moderated by Melissa Eggleston, we will discuss what works well in building trust in government. You'll learn from past mistakes of others so you can avoid similar missteps. Get practical direction to improve your people skills with your team and all those partners you need on your side.
Key Insights
-
•
The trust equation breaks trust into credibility, reliability, intimacy, and low self-orientation, providing a practical tool for trust-building.
-
•
Delivering results consistently, summarized as delivery equals trust, is critical to maintain reliability and build trust in government projects.
-
•
Empathy and kindness are foundational people skills that enable creating safe spaces and fostering participation within complex teams.
-
•
Honesty, even when delivering difficult truths about a project, sustains trust when done respectfully and backed by evidence.
-
•
Code-switching and adaptability from diverse personal backgrounds enhance listening skills and relationship-building in government environments.
-
•
Discovery sprints serve as trust-building exercises by involving partners early and collaboratively in problem understanding and solution ideation.
-
•
Traditional ‘throwing over the fence’ procurement approaches fail; collaborative procurement teams improve trust and outcomes.
-
•
Relationship maintenance requires intentional effort, similar to personal friendships, including regular check-ins and leveraging multiple communication channels.
-
•
Understanding individual circumstances and meeting people where they are increases warmth and connection in professional relationships.
-
•
Trust-building is layered, requiring care not only between people but also between people and work, and between work entities.
Notable Quotes
"The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is."
"Trust is the sum of credibility, reliability, intimacy, divided by self-orientation."
"Kindness and empathy are a good way to build interest and relationships."
"In procurement, throwing things over the fence just doesn’t work; collaboration builds trust."
"Delivery is trust—doing what you said, avoiding overpromising, and delivering quality."
"Listening with all your senses, not just the words they’re saying, reveals people’s true needs."
"When you tell the truth, especially hard truths, how you say it matters as much as the truth itself."
"Meeting people where they are means recognizing what’s going on in their life and their context."
"Building trust is a slow, brick-by-brick process, especially when you’re entering new environments."
"Trust requires care at different levels: person-to-person, person-to-work, and work-to-work."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Making the business case begins by identifying the need and showing how strategic content adds value."
Natalie DunbarDesignOps and Content Strategy: Envisioning the Future Together
October 1, 2021
"The hardest thing with hypotheses is looking for the disconfirming evidence, not just the confirmatory."
Andrea GallagherThe Problem Space
May 16, 2019
"Reflect on what you experienced internally and externally to sharpen and reveal new insights."
Deanna MitchellDesigning with culture: Unlocking impactful insights for Product and UX
March 12, 2025
"How might we empower communities to initiate, lead, and design solutions that impact them directly?"
Meghan Hellstern Joanne DongThe Next 100 Years of Civic Design: How Might We Better Rise to Meet the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow?
December 10, 2021
"Organize synthesis before the research happens by aligning on themes and goals with moderators and track leads."
Smitha Papolu Nova Wehman-Brown Melissa Schmidt Adam MenterTheme 3 Discussion
June 4, 2019
"Power core is where senior executives really care about outcomes or functions that hold power."
Robin BeersBeyond Insights: Researchers as Organizational Change Catalysts
March 25, 2024
"We need to design for the many error states generative AI can produce, however unpredictable."
Cennydd Bowles Dan Rosenberg Lisa WelchmanDay 1 Panel
June 4, 2024
"For users with physical challenges, hover states can be very difficult, especially for eye, head tracking, or voice control users."
Sam ProulxPrototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
December 8, 2021
"When asked how he went bankrupt, he said in two ways: gradually and then suddenly — that’s how technology evolves."
Dan HillDesigning for the infrastructures of everyday life
June 4, 2024
