I’m studying in the “Leading Multicultural Virtual Teams” course at the moment and there was one research paper dealing with the topic of trust in virtual teams. The topic is widely discussed in remote working and building a high-trust culture is important to succeed when employees are working remotely.
Check also my other post about Building trust in remote teams. And materials about this topic.
In the research paper (https://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/article/view/1757/857, s. 7), they uncovered six main conceptualizations of trust. These conceptualizations are different ways of looking at and understanding trust.
The most exciting concept for me was swift trust which is one way for global teams to build trust quickly. According to Quartz (https://qz.com/1907873/how-globalteams-working-remotely-build-trust/) teams who need to collaborate rapidly, temporarily, and across distances will benefit the most from the swift trust (typically geographic). Swift trust is always about developing connections through dialogue.
To build trust, managers can do two important things. First, they need to make sure their team understands and agrees with the goals and plans they’ve set. Second, they should encourage team members to trust each other. This can be achieved by clear communication about goals and by creating organized ways of working together.
Team members need to know how each person works, what their personality is like, and what technical skills they have in order to build trust. After that, they should guide the team’s first meetings to focus on getting to know each other better through conversation and by quickly responding to questions.
Other forms of trust according to the research paper are
- Generalized trust – a single, straightforward measure that shows how open someone is to taking risks
- Time-based trust – static trust vs. trust that is dynamic and evolves
- Multi-faceted trust – trust as a multidimensional structure, such that individuals can be trusted in particular ways and for particular behaviors
- Dispositional trust – trust depends on a trait or quality that the person trusting already has
- Institution-based trust – trust that is based on norms and rules created by institutions that guide individual behavior
Best practices to build trust found in different articles
1. 8 ways to build trust in remote teams: https://blog.kenjo.io/ways-to-build-trust-in-remote-teams
- Promote communication
- The gift of freedom
- Appreciation and praise
- Clearly defined goals and rules
- Areas of responsibility
- Regular contact
- Promoting strengths
- Use automated tools
2. 5 tips for building trust in a remote workplace: https://www.fm-magazine.com/news/2021/sep/building-trust-remote-workplace.html
- Trust others to gain trust
- Align your team’s purpose and motives
- Overcommunicate and use the right medium for your message
- Amplify your human skills
- Avoid blame culture
3. Why trust is the number one ingredient in successful remote working teams: https://www.workplace.com/blog/remote-team-trust
- Create a team mission statement
- Make expectations clear
- Meet the needs of your team
- Connect your remote team members
- Don’t make it all about work
- Recognize achievement
- Acknowledge the differences
- Respond to messages
- Let employees take more control
- Resist the urge to micromanage
- Be open
4. The importance of trust in the remote workplace: https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/the-importance-of-trust-in-the-remote-workplace/
- Start planning now for the new remote workforce
- Trust is key to the remote work environment
- The right technology is needed for effective trusting and verifying
- Collaboration tools should be simple, intuitive, and cloud-oriented
5. How to build trust in the remote workplace: https://clockify.me/blog/remote-work/remote-workplace-trust/
- Take initiative, but be unobtrusive
- Listen more – be observant
- Try to be a little casual
- Respect others’ boundaries and create your own
- Be supportive
- Be open to learning and asking questions
- Communicate, communicate, communicate
- Support joint problem-solving
- Be timely with everything
- Give feedback often and make it constructive
- Step in only when you have to
- Encourage open communication
6. 10 Easy ways to build trust with your remote staff: https://www.brightful.me/blog/10-easy-ways-to-build-trust-with-your-remote-staffs/
- Use Virtual Coffee Breaks
- Let them coach each other
- Use video conferencing
- Formal and informal channels
- Remote team building activities
- Agree on response times
- Provide background information
- One-on-one conversations
- Ask for feedback
- Instill clear guidelines
7. How to Build Trust With Your Remote Teams in 2022: https://www.upwork.com/resources/building-trust-remote-teams
- Be transparent, responsive, and dependable
- Schedule regular team meetings
- Set expectations
- Establish clear goals and objectives
- Identify team roles and foster accountability
- Encourage consistency
- Introduce team collaboration tools
- Help team members create connections
- Promote peer-to-peer feedback
- Focus on team output and celebrate successes
- Avoid micromanaging your team
- Support a healthy work-life balance
8. Building and Cultivating Trust in Remote Teams: https://www.holloway.com/g/remote-work/sections/building-and-cultivating-trust-in-remote-teams
- Transparency: Keeping employees informed, Acting on feedback
- Autonomy: Retiring the punch card, Reducing bureaucracy
Check also my material section about building trust.
