Typically, there are more senior experienced engineer in the team. It’s important to be able to gain their trust by showing respect and good leadership before the rest. Give these individuals ability to make decision, seek opinions and provide guidance to their proffesional growth. Once this is done, the major hurdle has been crossed. In general, avoid dictatorship, ego and micro management to be able to gain the trust of your team.

- Explain what value you are bringing to the team and follow up with relevant actions. - After spending time to understand the team functions and each individual team mamber's strengths and weaknesses, present a clear plan to improve team functions without pointing out or excluding anyone. - Always remember that people and relations make a team work. - Listen to your team members and support them in their job. Make them feel that they can rely on you for guidance and support when needed.

->Schedule individual meetings with team members to discuss their roles, challenges, and goals. Observe the team's operations, workflows, and culture. Avoid jumping to conclusions or making changes immediately. ->Be aware of ongoing pressures and pain points within the team, and avoid unnecessarily disrupting these. Create a supportive environment where team members are comfortable sharing their concerns. ->Clearly define your role within the team and explain how you intend to contribute. Share ideas for how the team can develop and succeed, but avoid imposing drastic changes at the outset.

Building relationships is key to earning trust as a new manager. Take time to understand your team’s roles, strengths, and motivations through one-on-one meetings, showing you value their contributions. Be transparent by sharing goals, decisions, and thought processes to align the team and build confidence in your leadership. Listen actively to their feedback and insights—it demonstrates respect and ensures they feel heard. Set clear expectations by defining goals, roles, and what success looks like, fostering fairness and trust. Lead by example by modeling behaviors you expect, like meeting deadlines and staying curious. Finally, celebrate successes, big or small, to motivate and create a positive environment.

- Smart and capable people generally don't appreciate being ordered what to do, especially from a new manager or team leader. So ask. Nicely. It will get better results and build trust. - Be open and honest. Don't purposefully hide information from your team. Unless you are trying to lose their trust quickly, in which case please proceed. - Be approachable. Your team should feel comfortable approaching you with problems, not go into a panic attack worrying about your reaction. - Listen to feedback (especially criticism). Drop your ego if you want to improve your leadership skills. - Raise the energy in every room you enter. Your team should rejoice, not regret, when you enter the room. - Above all, keep improving yourself.

When I start with a new team, I like to do 2 things to align expectations: 1. Assure the team that my role is to help the team achieve greater success. 2. Go back to first principles and align on the company values and purpose of the team. With this initial alignment, trust comes much easier, as there is a strong foundation of shared values and purpose.

Building trust and credibility with your engineering team starts with genuine actions. Begin by listening actively—understand their challenges, strengths, and what drives them. Show technical competence, but don’t hesitate to admit when you don’t have all the answers; instead, collaborate to find solutions. Set clear expectations, be consistent in your decisions, and always follow through on commitments. Recognize their efforts and give credit where it’s due. Lastly, create an environment where their ideas are valued, and mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn. Trust grows from transparency, respect, and shared goals

Engage. Listen. Learn. Oftentimes we think we need to come in and demonstrate authority as our first objective. As we gain a bit of wisdom, we realize that authority is tied to respect, which is earned, not granted. No matter how expert you are, walk around. Introduce yourself. Learn the names of your team. And sincerely make an effort to learn what they are doing, what they want to be doing, and how they think the team can operate more effectively. Start humble and you will gain the authority naturally that you need to do the job.

To build trust and credibility with my engineering team, I’ll focus on creating an open and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. I believe in leading by example—being honest, accountable, and always holding myself to high standards. My goal is to create a culture of collaboration, where we can work through challenges together, drive innovation, and celebrate our collective success as a team.