Technology has enabled teams to function remotely more rapidly, economically, and efficiently for over a decade.
In 2013, when momentum began to build for a novel approach to work, Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, abolished remote working. After seven years and a global epidemic, Twitter revealed that its employees could work from home forever.
Of course, a lot has changed in these seven years. Many hard lessons have been learned from establishing a remote workforce. Corporate culture has become much more collaborative, and there is a growing list of reasons employees should be permitted to work from home.
Working from home and the combined efforts of individuals provide a strong case for the idea that there is only one victor in a Me versus We clash. Employees and their managers, however, have a few trust issues that must be addressed before we can progress.
And to eradicate the trust issues, we need to understand why managers and leaders struggle to trust remote teams in the first place.
Employers carefully select the perfect person for the job from among many applicants. They even ensure that the new remote employees can be trusted with confidential business information and financially delicate data.
Despite the rigorous screening process, many managers fail to utilize goal setting and performance measures in addition to collaborative communication efforts and therefore misinterpret the absence of social communication as an indication of lower work productivity or general work ethics.
As Millennials and Gen-Z employees enter the workforce in large numbers, organizations must let go of their distrust to keep their best workers.
According to Owl Labs, 83 percent of remote or on-site workers believe that working remotely would make them happier.
Source: Owl Labs
Working away from the office daily and taking a break from commuting, cubicles, and water coolers are apparent advantages of remote working.
But how do companies ensure a better understanding and trust among managers and remote teams?
Let’s find out.
From setting clear goals to eradicating manager biases, companies can take the following measures to build trust in remote teams:
Having clear guidelines for remote work will help companies ensure that trust isn't eroded. Leaders should specify how often employees should check in, what types of virtual communication to use, and when to use it versus voicemails, for example.
It will also be a valuable recruiting tool, as it will give job candidates an impression of the remote working culture at your organization. All you have to do is edit your company's employee handbook to institute remote working.
Facilitating open communication among team members is the best way to boost collaboration. Companies can advocate the following channels to keep remote teams in touch:
Synchronous Channels - These channels include live chats, video calls, and phone calls, all of which employees may use simultaneously to answer urgent questions, seek consultations, or make requests.
Asynchronous Channels - These channels include emails, direct messages, and updates on project management apps. These channels are ideal for non-urgent communication.
Remote workers rely on both types of communication platforms to stay connected. Companies should promote frequent communication to keep the team on the same page about work issues and other relevant info. As a result, the remote team members will feel more connected and more trusting of one another.
Managers should hold regular online meetings with their team members to keep them up to date on the latest developments since face-to-face meetings are not possible in a remote setup.
Companies may also organize less formal meetings from time to time. When team members feel connected beyond just emails and Zoom meetings, trust is built.
For example, this can be an online version of a happy hour event or a casual team gathering. Again, this is a great way to get to know one another. And as a result, managers and their remote teams will be more inclined to depend on each other.
Although some people have yet to encounter the concept of remote work (particularly those working in blended workforces), nurturing workplace culture will require patience and compassion.
Of course, a business would thrive to satisfy its client's needs. Still, it should also address problems or difficulties its employees may encounter at work for a variety of reasons.
As an employer, your goal is to ensure that your employees perceive that you care about them as people, not just as employees; that's how you develop loyalty. Employees will require assistance navigating the virtual workspace, adaptive leadership, and empathy for their well-being.
Employees must communicate frequently to remain informed about working remotely assignments and events. However, keeping close track of employees' activities, when they work, and where they are at all times may breed mistrust.
To establish trust in remote work environments, employers must give employees autonomy, hold them responsible for their results, and focus on their performance.
Nonetheless, assessing the performance of remote teams is not as straightforward as evaluating their work in a traditional environment.
Managers can check employees' task status during work meetings by asking them if they need help. As each team member has their way of managing the workload, evaluating the Output will help managers evaluate performance and provide Feedback to improve deliverables.
Technology can help IT leaders manage remote teams in line with the previous method. With several tools and applications, including Trello, Google Docs, Jira, Asana, GitHub, and more, to choose from, it's easier than ever to facilitate a productive and friendly remote work environment.
Automated workflows keep track of things without having to micromanage employees or make countless phone calls after. Remote working is only effective with automated tools. Remote teams require an adequate infrastructure to completely focus on meeting their goals. Shared folders, documents, and more are critical to this work.
The concern that managers may not notice them if they don't have "face time" with leaders is one of the issues faced by many remote workers.
Unfortunately, most managers view remote workers' achievements less favorably compared to their colleagues in person, even though remote workers are more likely to be superior performers.
Managers must address these unconscious biases to build a fair and trustworthy environment. For example, to prevent unintentional discrimination against remote employees, check whether performance evaluation and promotion criteria are objective and do not inadvertently disadvantage remote employees.
It's also essential to provide remote workers with the chance to meet with leaders inside and outside their chain of command in 1-on-1 or small group conversations to generate the connections that can lead to future opportunities.
This recommendation is primarily for managers. Managers need to establish empathy and personal touch with their subordinates. But, remote working settings are more challenging to connect with people and read their emotions. Here, making an effort to build human connections will help create trust.
Human warmth and trust are vital in establishing human relations, even before competence. In 1:1s and meetings, managers can make an effort to build human connection by making simple gestures like checking in personally at the beginning of each session, being cognitively present, and sharing their issues as they connect.
Since the pandemic, people have become more vulnerable to one another - dropping their office personas and managing the challenges of their changed lives, such as home-schooling or taking care of a sick or deceased relative.
Of course, managers must maintain a high level of work quality. Still, they will develop trust if they can also be open to each other's vulnerabilities and acknowledge our shared humanity.
Some employees may experience loneliness working remotely. To connect remote workers to the rest of the group, appointing a remote workforce leader is a simple solution. You may assign this position to a team member or hire someone.
The remote workforce leader can have the following responsibilities:
● Determine and enforce a remote working culture
● Ensure collaboration among team members
● Organize virtual team meetups like online watch parties and other fun activities.
A remote leader should also act as the orientation buddy so that new remote workers are welcomed onto the team. The remote leader should take the initiative to introduce new employees to the company, other team members, and tasks for their first week.
It is crucial for managers to provide remote workers with Feedback in order to avoid demotivation or doubt about their results. Whenever they assess a team's Output, they should let them know if the work was completed adequately.
Managers can inspire their subordinates to strive for excellence by providing them with honest Feedback. By letting them know if they should improve parts of their job, managers can assist team members in recognizing the areas of improvement.
Remote working demands a transparent work procedure in order to function effectively. When many workers are spread across different areas, working together is impossible without transparency.
Employees often unintentionally withhold information or interact at cross purposes when several employees work from different places. When this occurs, managers typically revert to old working techniques of control and micromanagement, which are not effective when working remotely.
Going back to the stone age is counterproductive when working from home, as focusing on the outcome instead of presence and questioning yields better results. Companies should trust the final product instead of simply being present at the workplace office-style in order to achieve KPIs and produce the resultant product.
The Notchup dashboard has an easy-to-use interface that handles all of your remote hiring requirements. We help you hire remote tech teams for enterprises in a short time. Save yourself a week of team orientation and get straight to work on day one.
