Trust is important in an organization.

There are numerous benefits to building trust. Trust increases positive work attitudes, improves decision making, and enhances employee engagement. When employees work in a virtual setting, actions are needed to ensure trust to improve collaboration and work effectiveness.

There are a number of factors that impact trust.

• Certain leader personal attributes build trust. Examples include leader integrity, honesty, consistency, and competence. If you don’t have honest leaders, or if leaders’ actions are not consistent with their words, or if leaders are incompetent, you will have diminished trust.
• Certain leader skills also build trust. If the leader inspires, clarifies, creates a shared focus, and builds processes to facilitate work, then you will have increased trust.
• Additionally, leaders must be empathetic and fair. Leaders must display their concern for others. And they must be fair in how they make decisions, how they distribute resources, and how they interact with others in the organization.

Simple strategy for building trust through brief, verbal interactions

So what can leaders do with virtual workers that will build trust? One simple strategy focuses on interactions. Research suggests that brief interpersonal interactions that are solely verbal can build trust and improve engagement.

Yes, brief, verbal interactions—even when you don’t have past close ties—are beneficial. People make judgments quickly so even contact of five minutes or less can improve trust.

The key thing to remember is that this contact can be solely verbal—which is helpful to know with so many people working virtually. When these interactions exist, one is able to better understand the perspectives of the other which then enhances trust.

So how many times in your workday do you pick up the phone and talk to others in your organization? Maybe it’s time to make that simple habit a priority.

Contact Sheila to learn more on building trust

Sheila is President of Workplace Culture Institute. Her firm is based in Atlanta. She serves companies globally.

Use the Contact Form. Email Sheila. Learn how to build trust in your organization.