Coding matters: Trust issues

Illustration of a two men forming a human bridge and another man running over them towards a target.

In his maiden budget vote, the new Department of Home Affairs (DHA) minister said:

“It is unacceptable that, in the year 2024 and in the age of artificial intelligence, we still do not have a reliable IT system at home affairs.”

I agree, although I don’t think AI has anything to do with it. It is ridiculous that DHA doesn’t have a reliable system. We’ve had stable systems at big and small companies for decades.

Dr Schreiber also plans to tackle the long queues and bad business processes. Again, I agree. Any interaction with DHA is enough to drive me to vast quantities of chocolate.

It’s about the people

But it’s not just processes and systems that matter. People matter more. When did you last hear a compliment about an official at DHA?

Let’s be honest. Very few of us trust government officials to do their job.

That will be more difficult to fix.

The question of trust

In a work environment, trust means something specific. I don’t need to know if you will catch me when I fall backwards. (I’m not really keen on team-building exercises.) I do need to know if I can trust you to do your work right. That applies for any kind of work – coding or admin or management.

Trust is a funny thing. It must be earned. And it’s fickle. But it’s also cumulative. If you trust someone to do their work, they are more likely to do it well. If you don’t trust them, the opposite may happen. I’ve seen it in my own behaviour, and in others.

A thought about RTO

Most people I’ve spoken to love working from home. And most are unhappy with RTO (return to office) policies that force them to face the traffic three times a week.

We’ve heard the claims. RTO fosters collaboration, enhances company culture, improves work-life balance. But the data doesn’t support that.

Research shows that remote work increases productivity, while compulsory RTO increases staff turnover. There’s an interesting article on recent research.

The article suggests that RTO mandates are because management wants power and control. It’s quite cynical. I don’t think that’s fair. But I do think compulsory RTO is about a lack of trust.

Switch on your camera

I spoke to an old delegate this week. He misses the inter-office interaction. And he’s not the only one. We learned to work remotely. Maybe we need to learn better ways to interact and trust remotely.

Here’s a thought. Switch on your camera! It’s amazing what a difference it makes on the courses.

For starters, it gives the lecturer better feedback. We can see if you are confused or happy (or not there). You interact more. You pay more attention. You feel seen. Everyone gets more out of it.

I looked for some research on this. I found another article that confirms the pros of keeping cameras on. It builds trust. We like to see the other person. Yes, there are cons. As with everything, we need to find a balance.

What do you think?

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