To succeed, most project teams must rely upon the skills, availability and expertise of virtual and global resources.
The good news is that Trust…the linchpin of all relationships and driver of team effectiveness…does not have to depend upon proximity.
There are ways to engender belief in the honesty and reliability of project team members even when they are connected only virtually. Here are two simple, easy-to-implement techniques for inspiring trust among project team members who may never meet face-to-face:
1. Step aside. Let each member take turns conduct your regular project meetings. This responsibility can include creating and distributing the agenda, facilitating discussion, ensuring all members have an opportunity to speak, monitoring the time, etc. By sharing power among project team members, you show confidence in each member’s ability to lead and each member has an opportunity to “stand on stage.” It also increases accountability and positive performance pressure when you ask others to take a more systemic and strategic project leadership role during the meeting.
2. Share Good News. Establish a Good News segment of every meeting. We like to do this at the start of each meeting. It should be time-limited but each member should have an opportunity to participate. The good news can be business-related or personal. In fact, the personal news is often more valuable as it encourages team connections beyond the merely professional. While it sounds a bit corny and people may fight it at first, you will be surprised about what you learn and how much people will want to share.
Are you taking these two simple steps to create trust on your virtual and global project teams?
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