Last week, I read a really interesting Harvard Business Review article called, “WFH Is Corroding Our Trust in Each Other.” It talked about the loss of trust that can occur when coworkers are working from home and don’t have the typical in-person opportunities to build reputations and trust. For example, we no longer get to see that our coworker is coming in early or working late, so we might not realize how much she’s contributing at work. Even worse, we might start to assume that she’s not pulling her weight anymore. With so many employees working from home right now, this might be a concern you share as a leader. Trust is a huge part of team morale. Once trust is lost, it can be very difficult to rebuild. So, how do you maintain trust in work from home teams?
When I was a Sr. HR Consultant with Wellstar, I worked in a completely different building than my boss. I had previously worked just steps away from my bosses, so this was a very new dynamic. I worried about how we would communicate and that she wouldn’t know the work I was putting in. Thankfully, she was an excellent boss who maintained consistent communication with us. She communicated expectations and trusted us to do our jobs.
With my coworkers, we got to work in the same building side-by-side. And I will admit that I think this made it easier to become a close-knit team. We were able to ask each other questions really easily, provide support, and have fun sidebar conversations. At the same time, however, days could go by where we didn’t see each other. We supported employees all throughout the organization, so we often had meetings in other buildings. It was rare for all of us to be in our offices at the same time. In spite of that, we stayed connected. We had a great team, and we trusted each other.
So, maybe a more accurate question is – how do you maintain trust when you don’t see each other?
Trust by Example
We talk often about leading by example, so today it’s trusting by example! Hopefully, you demonstrated trust when your employees were in-person prior to the pandemic. Continue that same trust now that employees are working from home. When you trust by example, you set the tone for the rest of the team. Granted, this doesn’t guarantee everyone else will trust, but it goes a long way. If you instead demonstrate mistrust, it’s almost impossible to have a high-trust team.
This also means not jumping on the electronic monitoring bandwagon. Yes, some jobs may lend themselves easily to productivity metrics, or employees may need to log in to a specific system in order to do their work. [Read more about making sure your productivity metrics measure the right things.] Or you might want employees to be logged into Skype so they can easily communicate with each other. So, there may be some methods that make job-sense and create a healthy accountability dynamic.
The key is to ask yourself – is this to help my employees succeed or so I can catch them doing something wrong? Think about the concept of clocking in/out. Hourly employees clock in/out in order to get paid correctly. It’s to help them succeed! Now, those timecards also come in handy for theft of time investigations into whether an employee remained clocked in even while not working. So, we have a way to hold accountable by utilizing a system that’s in place for employees to succeed.
What I would caution against is going out of your way to spy on your employees. Requiring your employees to always have their cameras on is ridiculous. Recording keystrokes or taking webcam pictures every so often is likewise incredibly unhelpful. Anything like this screams mistrust. It’s the only reason to do it. So, avoid this. You didn’t spend all day staring at your employees when you were in-person (hopefully), so why do it now? There are other ways to know whether the job’s getting done.
Communicate
As important as communication is in-person, it’s that much more important when we don’t see each other. As a leader, clearly communicate expectations and requests to your employees. With the team, encourage your employees to communicate regularly with each other.
One of the best things we did as a team at Wellstar was to have weekly team meetings. We were able to learn about what each other was working on and provide support. Plus, this provided a great accountability opportunity with our boss. She also had regular individual conversations with us about specific projects or just to check in and see how we were doing.
I’d highly recommend regular individual meetings as well as team meetings. Certainly, you want to avoid “Zoom fatigue,” so consider a routine that will be helpful. The goal is to support your employees in their work and to provide opportunities for team morale, learning, and support.
Another excellent communication tool is your calendar! Ask everyone to share their work calendars with each other and to keep them updated. This was very helpful at Wellstar with all of us going in so many different directions. It’s an easy way to accomplish a couple of things as employees communicate (1) their performance – aiding trust and accountability, and (2) when they are/aren’t available. With many employees working flexible schedules, this is an especially helpful tool.
Build Camaraderie
Some of the leaders I’ve worked with had 100% remote teams with employees in various states but still maintained high-trust teams. One of them had virtual watercooler times where employees could hop online to chat casually with each other, similar to an office break room. Employees loved it, and it helped them build relationships with people they’d probably never see in-person.
As the HBR article points out, the routine sidebar conversations that naturally happen in-person don’t tend to happen as naturally in remote dynamics. So, you’ll need to look for opportunities for your employees to build camaraderie. Maybe it’s in icebreaker questions before team meetings or assigning mentors to new employees. Perhaps it’s having some online lunches with coworkers. Or maybe it’s encouraging employees to call each other to check in and say hello. Camaraderie is a key element of maintaining trust as well as employee engagement.
Address Mistrust
It’s going to happen. One of your employees is going to express concerns about another one. So, when this happens, start having conversations to figure out what’s going on.
Mistrust happens for all kinds of reasons and depends on so many variables. So, it’s important not to lump all complaints together. When an employee expresses a concern, find out what’s going on. What’s the concern and why? That helps you know what to do next. Is Jane questioning whether Steve is “really doing his work” because she can no longer see him sitting at his desk? Or has Steve been late turning in reports for the last month, which causes more work for Jane? Find out the specifics so you can work to remedy them.
If there are performance issues, address them. Don’t let them linger. [Read more about managing the performance of remote employees.]
If you find that lots of issues stem simply from employees not seeing each other working, gently remind them that they are responsible for their own work. It’s your job to be the manager – not theirs. It’s a good exercise to learn to trust other people to do their jobs.
On a COVID-specific note, we know that many employees are juggling multiple demands in unique ways right now. Some employees may not be able to be as productive as they typically are. Now that we’re a year into this, patience may be running low from the rest of your team. Be supportive of all of your employees by making sure your expectations are appropriate. Be understanding of the difficult situations your employees are facing. And make sure that you’re not over-relying on the rest of your employees. If their workloads are remaining extra high because Sandra and Tom have more family obligations, that’s not a good dynamic. Have appropriate, realistic expectations of everyone, and encourage all of your employees to take care of themselves.
Encourage Teamwork
I hated group projects in school. I much preferred to have my own assignments. Over the years, though, I’ve learned the value that can come from sharing loads with other people. In HR, there’s always more work to do than there is time to do it, so splitting up projects with others can be helpful.
When opportunities arise for multiple people to work together on something, take advantage of that. This can be a great way to “see” each other working and build camaraderie. Also, be sure to encourage employees to reach out to each other when they have day-to-day questions. Having a regular dynamic of support can help build that sense of teamwork. We’re all in this together, even if we’re hundreds of miles apart.
It is possible to maintain trust while working from home. With some creativity, communication, and keeping tabs on the team dynamic, you’ll be able to have a high-trust remote team. Remember, a lot of employees may stay remote well after this pandemic has ended. These habits will be helpful ongoing with your remote employees!
Photo credit: By nd3000 / Canva
