Improve Virtual Team Collaboration with Trust
Recently our international virtual sales teams rushed through a chaotic marathon project. We barely made the deadline, and most team members were physically ill and mentally drained from the pressure of the project. If you have worked in the corporate world for any length of time, this is a common story. A hard deadline. A frantic race to the finish. An exhausted team. The difference with this experience was leadership’s response. They instituted productive changes to avoid a repeat scenario. Their positive response to a real crisis built trust with our team. My opinion of the team and its leadership improved more from this experience than anything else to-date at this company. Why? How did they do that in a virtual team setting?
Building trust on virtual teams takes time. My company spent time and effort laying fundamental trust foundations to turn a bad moment into something positive. (It seems from above that the reaction and changes came out of one meeting and did not take a lot of time) I think the key is in laying the foundation, and that takes time. It reminds me of the question: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The willingness of leadership to recognize the problem and address it helps build trust. Sometimes there are quick fixes, but most times, change requires a process to complete one step at a time, decidedly and determinedly. There are key elements to a healthy trust foundation for virtual teams.
In her article, “4 Tips for Building Trust in the Virtual Workplace,” Dr. Marina Theodotou lists four important things a company can do to build trust:
1. Get to (Really) Know Your Team Members
She emphasizes the need in 1:1 meetings to ask each other personal questions about hobbies, family, etc. to remind each other of their common humanity.
2. Set and Share Common Goals
Setting common goals helps to define a common set of values and sets a destination the team desires to reach together. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound) goals is a good way to meet this objective.
3. Communicate with Transparency and Consistency
Transparency also produces strong teams. In Sylvia Johnson’s article “10 Ways to Build Trust in Remote Teams,” she defines transparency as, “Share information openly with the team. Work schedules, project progress, and task status should be available to all members at any time.” Different virtual teams will implement different tools to achieve transparency. A commonly used practice is to over-communicate. Always communicate more than you think necessary. Over-communicating reaches beyond a regular level of communication, ensuring effective communication with their team. Strong communication helps with transparency.
4. Focus on Outcomes
In the virtual workplace it is important to focus on outcomes rather than time spent at the computer. This means focusing on the quality and punctuality of comleted projects rather than monitoring every minute of a team member’s time. Team leaders must recognize that working from home means juggling meals, kids’ education, medical appointments, home repairs, etc. That’s why good leadership focuses on results rather than micromanaging time. What matters is the outcome. Did the team deliver the project on time? Did they produce good quality? Allowing this flexibility helps the virtual worker to relax and find creative ways to complete their work while caring for their family responsibilities. This means assuming the best of people first and not assuming the worst.
When all four of these elements are put together and practiced consistently in the virtual workspace, trust will grow. It’s like a slow-growing plant. Patience, care, nurturing, and consistency are needed. This is the process my team leaders implemented to effectuate change. The pay-off is worth the work!
Citations
Theodotou, M. Dr.. 2020. “4 Tips for Building Trust in a Virtual Workplace”. Training Industry: Leadership. Available at: https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/4-tips-for-building-trust-in-a-virtual-workplace/
Johnson, Sylvia. “10 Ways to Build Trust in Remote Teams”. Learnlight. Available at: https://insights.learnlight.com/en/articles/build-trust-in-remote-teams/
