More and more of us are working on hybrid teams with people located in various areas of the world who we’re not likely to meet face-to-face for a while. We lack the luxury of regularly observing our peers in-person, making it harder to gauge their intentions, values, and characters. So how can we build trust?
- Here are three of the most readable indicators of trust. You can display them whether you are in-person or remote, and also look for them in your team members to determine whether or not you can trust them back.
- Competence. This is your ability to do something efficiently and successfully. When others perceive you as competent, they believe that you have the skills and knowledge to do what you say you will.
- Benevolence. This is the quality of being well meaning and the degree to which you have others interests at heart. Other will trust you based on the extent to which they believe you care about their interests and have the motivation to go beyond your self-needs to cater to the team’s needs.
- Integrity. This is how you adhere to strong moral principles and how honest you are. Look out for opportunities where you can act in line with your values so that others become aware of your inclinations.
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Trust isn’t easy to build. It develops slowly, typically after you and another person have spent some time interacting and assessing each other’s character — specifically, these three qualities (which I’ll describe in more detail later in this piece):
