When you say you are giving a person the benefit of the doubt it assumes you have a nagging doubt and you will choose to overlook it given the limited facts you possess. In other words, you are giving the person the advantage of being innocent until proven guilty.
Before there are facts
There are some who endow the benefit of the doubt not knowing much about the circumstances or the person receiving the benefit. This is appropriate when you are new to a role or environment and you don’t know much about the players and the related dynamics. In cases like these, knowledge of the facts is usually limited so it is important to consider the facts you have because personalities, power structures and working relationships are not yet adequately understood.
After gathering the facts
There are others who propose the benefit of the doubt after knowing the players. They are familiar with historical and current data, and they understand the dynamics of relevant relationships. In cases like these, when you give a person the benefit of the doubt inappropriately, your credibility can be called into question. This is because it may appear that you are taking the course of least resistance by saying you are offering the benefit of the doubt but all you are doing is hiding behind this statement, using it as camouflage for avoiding tough decisions.
There is another type of person who bestows the benefit of the doubt in a situation where a person they know well makes a mistake or veers away from typical behavioural patterns. Their rationale is that the person receiving the benefit of the doubt will eventually revert to their traditional patterns of behaviour. If the person receiving the benefit does not revert to their traditional patterns, the person bestowing the advantage may decide to retract the benefit of the doubt if the new behaviour becomes the norm.
Temporary vs. Enduring Trust
Providing the benefit of the doubt may be safer that than offering a more enduring version of trust because the benefit of the doubt can be used as a tool to wait and see if there are actual grounds for trust.
From this perspective, the benefit of the doubt is granted on a temporary basis because it can exist until you eliminate the doubt. When you grant a person the temporary suspension of your doubts to allow them time to solidify their position, the burden of proof is typically on the person being given the benefit of the doubt. However, there are times when the person bestowing the benefit of the doubt seeks to prove or disprove the doubt because of personal agendas.
Withdrawing the Benefit of the Doubt
If the benefit of the doubt was given initially and additional facts become available, two important questions to ask yourself are, “Should I cease giving the benefit of the doubt and if so, why? I have witnessed cases where the facts are revealed, proving the benefit of the doubt is no longer deserved but the beneficent one continues to generously endow the benefit of the doubt. This could be due to fear of confrontation or an inability to identify changes in a situation.
Resisting Assignment of the Benefit of the Doubt
There are others who don’t or seldom assign the benefit of the doubt and require evidence of every single thing. While this is perceived as a safe point of view and an accountability tool, constant risk aversion can be draining for the people in the environment because it can lead to decision paralysis.
4 Tips for Building Accountability and Trust
Here are three tips you can consider to help you reduce the risks associated with erroneously granting the benefit of the doubt.
Get the facts: Be careful of the people who present opinion as fact. When you ask specific questions, these people cannot produce evidence supporting their opinion or position, so ask clarity seeking questions like, can you bring me the document or report? Or what are you basing your assertion on? Don’t be afraid to constructively confront uncertain situations.
Once you obtain the facts, analyse them by asking yourself if the facts support the doubt or the opposite view. It is important to review the facts because it is important to avoid creating a situation where the benefit of the doubt becomes an entitlement and causes laziness or mediocrity.
Build desired skills: If you are a team leader, another action to consider is to provide training or coaching opportunities to members of your team where appropriate. No matter how long a person has been in a position, a lack of skill may be an underlying issue.
Avoid Spin: If you are being doubted it may be that your credibility is questionable because you spin the truth. While spin is inevitable because we all have different ways of filtering information, building your integrity through being forthright can help to dispel doubts other have in you.
Timing: Ask yourself if you are you giving the benefit of the doubt early on in the working relationship to be fair or after it has been proven that the benefit is no longer deserved. If it is no longer deserved, are you taking the path of least resistance or have you been fooled by manipulation?
The benefit of the doubt, when used optimally, is a temporary tool. Therefore, conscious steps should be taken to get the facts so that you are making decisions based on reliable information.
Yvette Bethel is CEO of Organizational Soul, an HR Consulting and Leadership Development company. If you are interested in exploring how you can create higher performing team leaders, you can contact her at info@orgsoul.com.