{"id":6131,"date":"2020-05-10T21:06:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T04:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/?p=6131"},"modified":"2024-10-16T12:49:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:49:29","slug":"virtual-team-building-how-to-build-trust-in-a-remote-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2020\/05\/10\/virtual-team-building-how-to-build-trust-in-a-remote-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual team building: How to build trust in a remote team beyond games and activities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You want your team to feel connected remotely\u2026 but how do you do it without cheesy games and activities? Here are 8 ways to get virtual team building right.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Virtual<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Virtual team building is top of mind for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that your team isn’t working in the same office anymore, the things you used to say to each other in the hall \u2013 a simple “hello” in the mornings or a smile at someone as you walked by their desk – are absent. Gone are post-lunch catch-ups over coffee or asking about how a coworker’s weekend was when you go to fill up your water bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do you do? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You google “virtual team building”\u2026 And what you find are instructions for how to hold a virtual happy hour and a game where you guess fun facts about team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Games and activities are charming, sure. But does it truly help build trust in a remote team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes and no. They can help. But if playing online Scrabble together or sharing cat pictures are the only<\/em> mechanisms of virtual team building that you’re relying on, then the bonds of trust in your team will fray fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re looking for more meaningful, more sustainable ways of building trust in a remote team, we have to dig deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to dive in? Let’s peer at the research from the past 25 years and best practices from the past 30 years to fully understand how to build trust in a remote team \u2013 and how to get virtual team building right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First: What do we mean by “virtual team building”?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest misconceptions about virtual team building is that it’s only about helping our team “feel good.” Warm ‘n fuzzy sentiments about each other on the team is unquestionable pleasant \u2013 but that doesn’t mean you should optimize for them in a team. When a team that is constantly looking to “feel good,” they end up flattering each other while avoiding speaking the truth. Conflict is brushed under the rug. Preserving face is valued over honesty and mutual accountability. Your team’s culture \u2013 and performance \u2013 will suffer, as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, to get virtual team building right, you’ll want to focus on fostering trust in a remote team. Trust, after all, has enormous benefits to a team’s culture and performance that we often don’t fully recognize. Studies have found how trust is linked to improving job performance<\/a>, increasing employee engagement<\/a>, and opening up channels of communication<\/a>. Trust is the oil in the engine that helps any team (remote or co-located!) get to where it’s trying to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But trust can be a blanket word. Something we casually toss around, without precision. When we aspire to “build trust,” we can lose our sense of what that means to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do virtual team building right, we must then distill specifically the type \u2013 or types \u2013 of trust we should be looking to cultivate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 2 types of trust to foster in a remote team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The two types of trust we should foster are what’s known as “affective trust” and “cognitive trust” to scholars. Affective trust<\/a>,” constitutes a form of trust based on emotional bond and interpersonal relatedness. Cognitive trust<\/a>, meanwhile, springs from reliability and competence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way to think about it is: Affective trust is how you feel about the person’s intentions, while cognitive trust is how well you think that person will act on their intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To manage a remote team well, you need both affective and cognitive trust. The question is, then, how do you exactly do this through virtual team building?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to build affective trust in a remote team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To foster the emotional closeness and rapport that consist of affective trust, you want to make sure your virtual team building efforts include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1: Prioritize onboarding more than you usually do.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to research<\/a>, affective trust tends to be more important to foster at the beginning of a relationship. Accordingly, onboarding new hires well becomes even more paramount for virtual team building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should this onboarding process<\/a> include? Here are a few key elements for remotely onboarding your team well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n