Remote work is here to stay, and adapting to this arrangement presents challenges for employers and employees alike. While it’s safer and more convenient for many of us to work from home as we continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be difficult for new employees to develop trust with their managers from such a long distance.
For professionals who have just joined their organizations, building connections and trust with key leaders can be especially difficult, having never met them face-to-face.
To help those working in fully remote environments, the members of Forbes Coaches Council shared 14 ways new team members can develop trust with their managers no matter where they are.
Forbes Coaches Council members offer new remote employees tips for building trust with their managers.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Get To Know Each Other
Trust is the bedrock of any solid professional relationship. Here are two strategies to build trust: First, get to know each other. Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging, especially when they are new. Creating a personal connection is one of the most effective ways to build trust. Second, communicate. Frequently asking for clearly defined goals and expectations is a great way to ensure clear communication. - Beth Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Coaching and Consulting
2. Create An Expectations Checklist
My company had been remote for five years when I relocated to the Netherlands. To establish trust, new employees can create an expectations checklist. This should include expectations around availability, response times for emails, texts, phone calls and messaging, handling personal appointments during the day and creating regular check-ins, among other things. This gets you on the same page fast and sets clear expectations. - Krista Neher, Boot Camp Digital
3. Over-Communicate
Professionals who are new employees can develop trust by over-communicating. Keeping your leadership in the loop is the key to building trust. Once you have established a reputation as a professional who shows up before you are asked and communicates often, the barrier of remote work will be broken, and your leadership will trust you to get the job done. - Dominique Law, Hired! Career Solutions
4. Schedule Virtual ‘Dates’
Professionals who are new employees can still develop trust with their managers in a fully remote environment by being intentional about scheduling virtual “dates” merely to understand their manager’s unique style and specific expectations. - Hannah Keeley, Team Keeley LLC
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5. Show Up Early And Stay Late
Accurate record-keeping and attention to detail are paramount. Treat the remote environment as a physical location, meaning: Show up early and stay late. Always focus on your communication and report any inconsistencies or shifts in access early and often. Be respectful and responsible, the consummate professional. Also, always ask for advice on ways to improve your performance and effectiveness. - Shaan Rais, Omni-Solutions Consultation LLC
6. Listen To Your Manager’s Insights
Communication, communication, communication! Take time to listen to insights from your manager and demonstrate your genuine interest in the role you fill in the organization. Don’t be timid about scheduling time with your manager to ask questions that will help you better understand the culture. Be proactive and report in more often than might be required until you earn your manager’s trust. - Cheri Rainey, Rainey Leadership Learning
7. Have Honest And Transparent Conversations
With remote teams, strategic horizons being closer and a need for agility, teams require psychological safety. Leaders must engage in honest, transparent conversations. Clarify what people need from the get-go, check in over time and deliver both praise and feedback to help increase their capacity. Avoid misalignment and be brave in 2021. - Clare Beckett-McInroy, Qatar Financial Centre
8. Deliver On Targets With Speed
New remote employees should deliver on their targets, and they should do it with speed. Working in a fully remote work environment means their managers have to trust that they will invest company time in their work. Coming up short on targets breaks that trust. Aside from this, they should show empathy to their managers to cultivate the relationship. However, they should prioritize delivering on targets. Respect comes before affection at work. - Sam Adeyemi, Sam Adeyemi GLC Inc.
9. Take Ownership Of Your Onboarding
New employees in a remote environment must provide updates on their progress to their manager, ask questions or ask for assistance and take personal ownership of their onboarding. Regularly connect with teammates to shadow them virtually, ask them questions and get information about the organization, its structure and its customers. Make personal connections with the team to build trust. Acknowledge support given. - Mark Samuel, IMPAQ Corporation
10. ‘Design’ Your Relationship With Your Manager
New remote employees should “design” their relationship with their manager. Request weekly one-on-ones, clarify how often you will want to check in on projects and ask, “What would success look like on this project?” When you have an assumption, ask about it. You will learn how to anticipate questions from your manager, which builds trust. - Wendy Hanson, BetterManager
11. Keep Your Promises
On any given day, we make more promises than we realize. When you are new to an organization (remote or not), it is essential to keep track of the promises you are making and to keep them. It’s an exceptionally easy way to demonstrate that you know how to set and meet expectations. If you say you are going to do something by some time, keep that promise and build trust. - Jim Vaselopulos, Rafti Advisors, LLC
12. Do A Virtual ‘Introduction Tour’
A remote working environment doesn’t keep you from making the effort to do your “introduction tour.” Ask for a short, get-to-know-you chat or Zoom coffee with each of your co-workers. Make it a one-on-one with your camera on and focus on primary, personal content. Trust can only be built between one human being and another, so despite remote limitations, use all available options. Don’t let being remote be your excuse! - Michaela Lindinger, brain in spa
13. Be Clear And Concise And Get To The Point
Now more than ever, it’s critical to be clear and concise and get to the point. The more we speak, the more we confuse. Your trust begins to get questioned when your manager can’t follow and connect with you. Follow through on your promises, always be early and go above what the job requires. Approach your managers with ideas and solutions rather than waiting for them to come to you. Always be thinking ahead! - Stacey Hanke, Stacey Hanke Inc.
14. Figure Out How To Serve Others
Be authentic and curious about this new company you have joined. Be humble and helpful, visible but not loud. Be on time and yet courteous when others may be late. Deliver what you say you will and help others keep their commitments. Seek to engage and get to know other team members in your company. And most importantly, figure out how to help and serve as many others in your company as you are able to. - Severin Sorensen, ePraxis
