By Terence Brake, Head of Learning & Innovation, TMA World
We’ve reached that time of year when some of us make resolutions—losing weight, taking off more time to be with the family, going to the gym, eating more broccoli, and volunteering for good causes. We resolve to do something to make our own—and sometimes others’—lives better, healthier, and more productive.
Those of us who work virtually can make a difference in the quality of lives by making and keeping one commitment:
Focus on connecting, not just making connections.
We work in virtual space, which can be as impersonal, unfeeling, and airless as outer space. Technology enables us to create “social” networks with hundreds—even thousands—of connections, but virtual working and collaboration require trust, which is as much a feeling as it is a rational decision.
I read recently about the suspension gap in relation to communication and trust. Every relationship involves a leap of faith—the leap we make in deciding to trust someone. We make that leap even with friends and spouses. We reach a point where we are willing to suspend doubt about someone’s trustworthiness.
When we feel we know someone well, the suspension gap between our knowledge of them and our willingness to trust them is quite narrow. When we don’t feel we know someone well, the suspension gap is wide. In virtual collaboration, the suspension gaps with our colleagues tend, of course, to be substantial. This is why the speed and regularity of communication at the beginning of a virtual project is so critical; we need to reduce the uncertainty, the doubt about the trustworthiness our colleagues. We need to build up a knowledge base about others so we can all work efficiently and effectively.
I used the term, “knowledge base,” but that makes it sound like all we need to trust or be trusted is facts. When we make a leap of faith, we do so based on feelings, as well as facts. In a virtual world where facts about others may be lacking, we may have to rely heavily on feelings. As a consequence, as virtual workers, we need to ask ourselves not just what facts am I sharing about myself, but what feelings of trustworthiness am I helping to create to narrow the suspension gap?
In his book, “The Speed of Trust,” Stephen M. R. Covey highlighted the importance of character and capability to trust development. What can we do to help generate feelings of trust in these two areas, virtually?
Most of the tips below apply to face-to-face interactions, but they usually require extra focus and effort when working through technologies.
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Capability |
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We don’t need to build high levels of trust with all of our virtual colleagues, but when tasks are non-routine, relationships complex, distances great, and risks relatively high, trust is our most valuable resource. The behaviors listed above are not ends in themselves, they are generators of trust feelings that are not confined to this time, this project, this situation. Trust transcends borders of time and space. Let me end with a quote from the poet, Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Remember to focus on connecting, not just making connections. Our virtual suspension gaps don’t need to be chasms filled with doubt.
Have a wonderful 2014.
It would be great to hear your thoughts; please contact me at tbrake@tmaworld.com.
Terence Brake is the head of Learning & Innovation, TMA World (http://www.tmaworld.com/training-solutions/), which provides blended learning solutions for developing talent with borderless working capabilities. Brake specializes in the globalization process and organizational design, cross-cultural management, global leadership, transnational teamwork, and the borderless workplace. He has designed, developed, and delivered training programmes for numerous Fortune 500 clients in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Brake is the author of six books on international management, including “Where in the World Is My Team?”(Wiley, 2009) and e-book “TheBorderless Workplace.”
