How to Create Trust on Your Virtual Team

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1:03We all know that teams can function when co-workers don't trust one another. And establishing trust in a traditional, physical, working environment is difficult enough, but it's even tougher in a virtual environment when you have to work with people you've never met in person. My company has dug into the research and worked directly with dozens of large companies on how to build and maintain trust with employees on virtual teams. Here's what we've learned. First, make the most of swift trust. When groups first form, the prevailing feeling is that, hey, we're all in this boat together. Success will reflect well on everyone.

1:38Failure is going to hurt all of us. In this atmosphere of swift trust, people have little choice but to trust each other. One great way to take advantage of this swift trust, tout the competence of all the team members and ensure that you've set very clear goals that everyone understands from the very beginning in that early, important stage. Over time, swift trust will definitely decay, but it can help hold the team together until another type of bond develops. So what is that other bond? Interpersonal trust. This is something you have to proactively build. Don't take it for granted. Don't assume that people's work product will be enough to create that kind of interpersonal trust that really respects and cares.

2:23You need people to make those personal connections in order to go the extra mile for each other. Next, communicate with predictability. Research has found that the globally distributed teams that lack trust tend to have unpredictable communication patterns, often with just one or two people accounting for the for the lion's share of the communications. But in high trust teams, communications were regular and predictable. The team members contributed more equally and were conscientious about letting everyone know when they were actually going to be unavailable. So no one was left wondering why somebody hadn't responded to a message.

3:01Fourth, share and rotate power. I know this sounds odd. In a traditional workplace, teams are usually led by one person. But in a virtual environment, a centralized power structure is actually less effective. A study of virtual teams in a Fortune 500 IT company found that on high trust teams, power actually shifted among the members depending upon the stage of the project. Teams can't function without trust and of course we know that trust can be challenging to build without face-to-face interactions. But if you're managing a virtual team don't just hope for the best. Make sure that you're proactive.

3:37Use the right practices and ensure that trust grows within that virtual team.

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