I Don’t Trust You
Rarely in a work setting do we come out directly and tell someone that we do not trust them. Often it’s couched in, “you’re always late,” or “are you sure you’ll make the deadline, you keep missing them,” or maybe, “this is a hard deadline and I don’t want to miss it again because of you.”
This can be responded to through various counterproductive work behaviors such as passive-aggressiveness, abruptness, frustration, stress, anxiety, and any number of emotions and behaviors that get in the way of high-performance.
Teams often react in any number of ways but usually can be summarized in the opinion that this is an ‘irresponsible’ person. In face-to-face and virtual groups, the team often becomes consumed by the person that is the weakest link. Rolls become unbalanced, responsibilities begin falling on others, the team does not meet deadlines and trust begins to corrode.
If the leader is not aware of what is going on, a less experienced or emotionally intelligent team will not deal with the team member directly or will do so inappropriately. At this point, a team member will usually be chosen to go to the leader, if the leader has their trust.
If the leader does nothing or performs perfunctory duties in addressing the situation, meaning they do not meet the moment in the perception of the team, trust will continue to erode. Conversations will become gossip, emotions and behaviors will heighten and performance will decline.
Alternatively, the leader can end up being the subject of the ire if the direction for the group or the individual lacks clarity, timelines, responsibilities, accountabilities, connection, and expected outcomes. Therefore starting with clear communication, team roles, responsibilities, outcomes, and relationship building will instill trust and mitigate some of the negative outcomes of a low-performing team member.
So now you're done on face-to-face and virtual teams, right? Not so fast. Here is the truth about trust and virtual teams. Virtual teams are different from traditional shared office space work environments.
Virtual distance situations have been shown to increase stress due to amplified difficulties in communicating through technology, decision processes that are often ambiguous, as well as the lack of social interaction, clarity of project, distinctive roles, and the lack of trust-building (Johns & Gratton, 2013; Judge & Zapata, 2015).
Not only does this affect people who are working virtually but it will also have an effect on those who consider working virtually. People will choose to or not work virtually based on the dynamics of virtual teams and how the leader leads them.
As companies look into moving into a hybrid work environment, the combination of working face-to-face and virtually will likely cause a few new pain points leaders did not anticipate. In my research, stress increases for groups based on personality traits, behaviors, and personal experience.
Additionally, this research shows that there is increased stress when people work in hybrid environments. I expect that people will go back to working part-time in the office and part virtually and expect that communication, role clarity, project clarity, timelines, and trust will go back-to-normal again.
The reality is, all of the values and characteristics that play into building trust will be taxed in the new environment. People will expect that what they do in face-to-face interaction will automatically translate to the virtual environment. What most likely will happen is a lot of communication that starts with, “how did you know that, I didn’t know that?” This too will begin to erode trust.
Being intentional in communication clarity by refreshing what you know first and then confirming roles, responsibilities, and timelines will begin to maintain equity and fairness in teams. Equity and fairness rank high in building trust.
By all means, the hybrid model is going to be ideal for the majority of people. However, one size does not fit all in this case. Being strategic and intentional in how teams are built, how leaders are matched, the amount of virtual work, and to what extent they work collectively and autonomously will lead to more high-performing teams with high trust.
Education and coaching can mitigate the effects of vacillating between in-person and virtual work. Leaders and fellow employees can help each other by being clear in expectations and accountable to themselves for meeting responsibilities.
Being forthright and honest with those who are struggling to work virtually or in a hybrid is the best way forward. Asking better questions around why the team is failing to meet deadlines may mean you need to have a brief conversation about the reasons why this happened. The employee could be going through something at home, lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities could exist, or maybe their knowledge or skill base is not sufficient. The answer is not always that someone is irresponsible. Therefore, the leader and team should decide how to support each other with identified strengths and weaknesses.
A special note for virtual leaders and teams, do not be afraid to give and ask for help. Be supportive first and work on solutions. Recognize and appreciate each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Realize trust is integral to your team being high-performing so do whatever you can to continue to build it. Trust can be broken in a minute but it's an ongoing process to keep.
Dr. Tom Alan-Livernois, EVP the Americas, 4i Leadership
