Building trust in remote teams

Trust, at its very core, is a combination of intent and demonstrable results.

Daniel J. McAllister in his research paper in the Academy of Management Journal, discusses 2 types of trust:

1. Affective Trust which is based on the emotional connect. How well the team-members relate to the manager or each other?
2. Cognitive Trust which is based on the competence and reliability.

Managers, in order to build trust within the remote teams, must build bot affective and cognitive trust.

Building affective trust:

1. state intentions clearly
2. care for personal well being
3. do not frequently reschedule or postpone 1:1 meetings

Building cognitive trust.

1. set clear goals and expectations
2. demonstrate results by delivering on commitments
3. give regular appreciative and developmental feedback