Remote and hybrid work are here to stay as leading companies recognize the value of distributed teams and flexibility. Meanwhile, workers across industries are demanding the right to work where they want and when they want. As a result, business leaders must invest time in learning the skills and practices needed to build trust in a virtual team.
This trust, unfortunately, is absent in too many organizations. Many managers don’t believe employees are actually productive when they aren’t in the office, Microsoft research suggests. Meanwhile, workers don’t trust executives’ reasoning for wanting them back in the office. All executives, including HR leaders, have an imperative to improve this situation and empower managers to build trust with their teams, regardless of location.
Building trust in virtual teams unlocks higher performance and engagement. Learn how our Whole Brain® Thinking framework can help your virtual team set the foundation for greater trust, stronger relationships and better results.
A well-rounded virtual team provides and cultivates support, guidance, encouragement and trust for all team members. As remote work becomes the norm for many teams, leaders have no choice but to earn that trust if they want their teams to succeed.
By building trust in your team, you gain many advantages that allow your team and organization to thrive.
Research led by Paul J. Zak, founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and published in Harvard Business Review, found that workers who are part of high-trust companies are 29% more satisfied with their lives and 74% less stressed. This job satisfaction and sense of well-being can encourage retention, which keeps expertise in your team and prevents the costs incurred with turnover.
Zak’s research also found that people in high-trust companies have a higher productivity rate than low-trust businesses and are less likely to experience burnout. Employees who trust each other are more likely to collaborate and communicate. Better communication allows them to focus on doing their best work.
High levels of trust are reflected in your organizational culture. Strong cultures lead to better results, alignment and efficiency. By contrast, companies with a stagnant or toxic culture will struggle to maintain their current level of success, much less grow.
One of the biggest reasons employees quit during the Great Resignation was because they felt disrespected at work, according to Pew Research Center. Disrespectful behaviors destroy trust and create resentment, ultimately increasing turnover. Employees in high-trust organizations, however, recognize everyone’s humanity in their interactions. They look for collaborative solutions to conflict rather than taking disagreements personally.
These benefits are available to any workplace but are especially important for virtual teams. Many organizations use physical presence to substitute for authentic trust; virtual teams don’t have that option. They must form real bonds and believe everyone else will fulfill their commitments.
Trust can’t be forced. It takes time to cultivate and can quickly be squandered. The good news is that you can build trust throughout your organization, starting with executive buy-in. HR leaders can then provide structure and guidance for managers to implement trust-building practices.
Increased trust is more than a feel-good initiative; it delivers tangible benefits for your team and organization. These behaviors build trust in virtual teams and can help your efforts.
Clarity keeps suspicion, anxiety and confusion at bay, no matter the team’s circumstances, but it’s even more critical when working with remote employees. Without regular face-to-face interaction, people can quickly lose sight of what you’re trying to accomplish and how their role fits into the bigger picture.
The communication aspects of Whole Brain Thinking prioritize clarity, positive intent, transparency and vulnerability, all of which are vital to building trust. Start at the leadership level. When employees see that leaders can be open and vulnerable, they’ll feel closer to those executives and are more likely to share their viewpoints.
Clarity, transparency and vulnerability also contribute to a psychologically safe environment for virtual teams. Team members demonstrate trust in their managers when they believe they can communicate wins, challenges and questions without fear. This extra level of communication also helps employees stay on the right track with their work.
Senior executives, HR leaders and managers build trust when they:
With strong processes in place, your virtual team will find it easier to collaborate efficiently. Without them, projects can quickly sputter.
Keep in mind that the techniques that work on-site might prove insufficient or ineffective with virtual teams. This is especially true when your processes lack documentation, rely on informal interactions or fail to centralize critical information.
When developing processes for virtual teams, keep these tips in mind:
Technology can dominate conversations about virtual teaming, but people are still the most important factor in any team’s success. You must take care of your employees and be sensitive to their challenges. Feelings of loneliness, isolation and detachment are possible in any workplace, but remote workers can be vulnerable to these feelings when they lack positive interactions.
In a survey of 2,000 U.S. and U.K. remote workers, 67% of workers aged 18 to 34 found it hard to maintain relationships with their colleagues. The report also found that 71% felt their now-virtual co-workers were more distant.
Remote work has created many benefits for employees, but it’s not without potential downsides. When in-person interaction is rare, everyone must focus on building specific behaviors that encourage camaraderie and team spirit.
Encourage these trust-building actions from managers and their teams.
Employees want to feel seen and acknowledged for their contributions to the business and team. When leaders create easy ways for managers to offer recognition, employees will be motivated to continue delivering wins and building connection within the team.
Many virtual employees thrive when they have flexibility over how and when work gets done. These employees are empowered to hit their work goals without neglecting their work-life balance or personal responsibilities. Flexibility retains structure around goals and values while freeing employees to find the best path forward.
Practice the plans and schedules aspect of Whole Brain Thinking in your cultural expectations around hours. Declare that employees can generally do work when they see fit and in hours that align with their time zone. If you require overlapping core hours or project-based exceptions, specify those, too.
Expectations should go beyond time zones. Every employee should have access to shared frameworks, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and agreed-upon goals. These resources help employees choose the best course of action while staying true to the company’s values.
Managers set the tone on flexibility. Employees watch your actions and whether you support their ability to control their workflow and set their own hours.
Working at home doesn’t mean working alone. Successful virtual teams make it easy for employees to share their ideas, brainstorm and solve problems.
Culture is foundational for idea sharing. Organizations that punish people for thinking outside the box or for well-intentioned failures put a freeze on new ideas. Encourage and empower your team to create its own future by tapping into diversity of thought, perspective and ideas.
Turning ideas into reality requires exploration and trial and error. Encourage the brainstorming and innovation aspect of Whole Brain Thinking by providing teams with modern collaboration tools that unlock idea-sharing.
Make sure to dream big. Encourage your team to get creative and have fun with it. Incremental ideas are welcome, but so are big, hairy audacious goals. Cultivate a space where employees at all levels feel comfortable sharing and working through these ideas.
Building trust is a job for everyone in the organization. Leadership sets the tone, HR devises and implements the framework, and managers have a crucial role in instilling trust through their words and actions.
Remote and hybrid work are essential components of modern organizations. Managers must evolve their skill sets and learn how to build trust in a virtual team. But they can’t do it alone — they need support from executives and HR leaders. Engage your virtual employees in ways that allow them to shine, collaborate and bring their best thinking to work — even if “to work” isn’t about going to the office.
Our Whole Brain® Guide For Remote Management & Distributed Productivity is based on our experience as a remote company and insights from our clients across industries. Download our guide today to get actionable tips and improve your remote team’s effectiveness and thinking.