How to Build Trust in Remote Teams

Building trust in remote teams requires leaders to rethink how they define communication, accountability and performance.

When employees worked primarily in an office, managers could rely on physical presence as a sign that work was happening. They saw people arrive, attend meetings and remain at their desks. But visibility was never the same as productivity.

Remote and hybrid work have made that distinction harder to ignore.

An employee can be highly visible and still miss important outcomes. Another employee may work quietly from a home office, client site or coffee shop and consistently deliver exceptional results.

The leadership question is not, “How can I make sure people are working when I cannot see them?” It is, “Have I communicated the expectations, outcomes and accountability clearly enough for people to succeed from any location?”

Building trust in remote teams does not mean eliminating oversight or lowering standards. It means replacing proximity-based management with clear priorities, consistent communication and shared accountability.

Some of the best work I’ve done in my current role, I’ve done at the Blue Bottle coffee shop. They serve one of my favorite coffee brews, the service is always friendly, and there’s always a general buzz of excitement from the other patrons who, like me, are furiously banging on their laptops or scribbling down notes on their latest project. It’s noisy, crowded, and smells heavily of twenty different types of caffeine. Some people might be hard-pressed to get any work done there, but for me, it’s a perfect fit.vSo what does this have to do with building trust in remote teams?

Working remotely is a growing trend. Go to a coffee shop, walk through a park, or take a few sales calls and you’ll find an increasing number of people who are “working from home today.” And why not? Wouldn’t you rather work on spreadsheets on a blanket in the park, or fix that bug in your code while you knock out some long-neglected chores? It’s a no-brainer. Chances are that most of us, if given the opportunity, would leap at the chance to work remotely.

And many companies realize this. Flexibility to work remotely is an incredible incentive to attract and retain talent, and not just because “it’s more fun.” For many employees the option to avoid lengthy commutes, not have to pay for child-care, and to be closer to their families throughout the day can be life-changing. So then why doesn’t every company offer the ability to work remotely?

Well, depending on which company you ask, you may get a different answer. But at the root of most opposition to remote working is trust. And it’s an understandable issue. For managers, what they want to know is “how am I supposed to manage someone who isn’t here?” Particularly in managing early career employees, there is often a very large trust gap between managers and their employees. And the trust divide is a bit more complex than you might initially think.

First and foremost, when you take an employee out of the office, how do you make sure they aren’t watching TV and ignoring the tasks at hand? Building trust in remote teams, beyond that first, basic layer of trust there are other hurdles to managing remote workers that stem more from experience and development concerns. As a manager, if Samantha is not in the office very much and my only communication with her is through email or over the phone, am I going to be able to coach her as effectively on what I need done as someone who is sitting just a few desks down from me?

These are reasonable concerns when building trust in remote teams. However in reality, I would argue that they are not concerns with remote working, but accountability concerns.

The first myth to debunk is that working in a company office is more productive and more free of distractions than remote working. The truth is, I can be just as distracted in my office as I can be at home. I can access ESPN, Facebook, and my Gmail account just as easily at work as I can from home. And, as much as I hate to admit it, when I’m in the office I will peruse the internet when I hit a brick wall or there’s a lull in my call schedule. Bottom-line: if you want to check-out, you’ll find a way to check out.

However, when I work remotely I am more easily able to put my nose to the grindstone for two hours, then take my dog for long walk to clear my head, then put in another two hours fresh, stop for lunch, etc. And I find I will actually work longer days on days I am not in the office than days I’m in the office.

But as a manager, it can be difficult to extend that level of accountability to someone you don’t have tabs on, particularly if they do not yet have the established credibility and industry skills of a veteran employee. There are countless studies of millennials’ lower attention spans and the unorthodox and risky practices of multitasking.  Those are all bad outcomes and they are risky enough gambles to understand why a lot of managers are still skeptical of their employees working remotely.

And, truthfully, there are some fields that do not lend themselves to remote flexibility. If you have to make immediate trading decisions or handle large client investments, it’s probably better to do that in the immediate range of support in case a problem should arise. But my point is that regardless of where the work takes place, managers should always be striving to establish a level of trust and fluid communication between themselves and their teams where they can focus on the result and not have to worry so much about the process. If that trust exists, then working remotely becomes a non-issue. If that trust does not exist, then that’s a bigger internal issue.

And one of the best ways to establish trust between managers and employees is to foster a culture of accountability rather than one of micromanagement. Netflix has recently evolved into one of the corporate standard for accountability cultures. At Netflix, you work where you want, and take as much time off as you want, you just have to get your work done. It seems like such a simple concept, because it is. Extend trust, hold your people accountable, and you’ll get the best product.

That model may not fit within every job function, but it’s a prime example of a company valuing their employees’ results more so than their process of building trust in remote teams. In today’s market, if you can turn out a high-quality project on-time while being responsive to questions, calls, and emails, it doesn’t matter if you’re at the office or in a noisy coffee shop. And in the continuous drive to innovate that so many companies are now facing, the companies that invest in trusting their employees and promoting self-regulation are the ones that will be able to draw-in and make use of top talent and help them foster the building trust in remote teams

Building Trust in Remote Teams: How to Build Trust in Remote Teams

Trust can be more difficult to observe in a remote environment, but it does not have to be more difficult to build.

Leaders build trust through the expectations they set, the consistency of their communication and the way they respond when challenges arise. Employees build trust by meeting commitments, communicating progress and raising concerns before those concerns become missed deadlines.

The responsibility belongs to both sides when building trust in remote teams.

Gallup’s current guidance for hybrid and remote teams emphasizes clear expectations, consistent communication, accountability for outcomes and equal access to feedback and development. These are not simply remote-work practices. They are core leadership communication practices when building trust in remote teams, that become even more important when teams cannot depend on informal office interactions.

Building Trust in Remote Teams: Define Outcomes Instead of Monitoring Activity

One of the quickest ways to damage trust is to confuse availability with performance.

An employee’s online status does not tell a manager whether the right work is being completed. Frequent messages, unnecessary status reports and constant check-ins can create the appearance of oversight without improving the quality of the work.

Start by defining the outcome.

What needs to be accomplished? What does a strong result look like? When is it due? Who needs to be involved? When should the employee ask for guidance or escalate a concern?

Clear outcomes give employees room to exercise judgment while giving managers a meaningful basis for accountability.

Building Trust in Remote Teams: Create Predictable Communication Rhythms

Remote team communication should be intentional, but it should not be constant.

Too little communication creates confusion and isolation. Too much communication interrupts concentration and can feel like surveillance. Strong leaders establish predictable rhythms that give people access to information, coaching and decisions without filling every hour with meetings.

A team may need a short weekly priorities meeting, regular one-on-one conversations and a clearly defined process for urgent issues. The right rhythm will vary, but everyone should understand when communication will happen and which channel to use.

Leaders also need to distinguish between an update, a request and a decision. A casual comment from a senior leader can easily be interpreted as a new assignment. Clear communication prevents employees from spending time on work that was never intended to become a priority.

Building Trust in Remote Teams: Make Accountability Mutual

Accountability is often described as something a manager expects from an employee. In a trusting relationship, it works both ways.

Employees should deliver on commitments and communicate early when circumstances change. Leaders should provide timely decisions, remove obstacles and avoid shifting priorities without acknowledging the effect on existing work.

When a deadline changes, explain why. When a new assignment becomes urgent, clarify what should move. When an employee raises a problem, respond rather than allowing the concern to disappear into a message thread.

Consistency tells employees that leadership communication can be trusted.

Building Trust in Remote Teams: Protect Visibility and Development

Remote employees should not have to return to an office simply to remain visible or in building trust in remote teams.

Leaders can create visibility by recognizing contributions, inviting remote employees into important discussions and providing equal access to feedback, coaching and development. Performance should be evaluated according to impact, not proximity.

This is particularly important for emerging leaders when building trust in remote teams. They need more than assignments and deadlines. They need context, feedback and opportunities to understand how their work connects to larger organizational priorities.

Building Trust in Remote Teams: Address Trust Problems Directly

Flexibility cannot compensate for missed commitments, weak communication or poor performance. When trust begins to erode, leaders should address the specific behavior rather than creating restrictive policies for the entire team especially when it comes to building trust in remote teams.

A direct conversation should clarify what happened, why it matters and what needs to change. This approach reinforces accountability without assuming that every remote employee presents the same risk.

Building trust in remote teams is ultimately a communication challenge. Leaders must make expectations visible, create meaningful connections and hold people accountable for the outcomes that matter.

SW&A helps leaders strengthen the communication skills required to set expectations, lead difficult conversations and create accountability across remote, hybrid and in-person teams.

What are the policies at your company around working remotely? Do you think they are too lenient or too strict? Head back to Base Camp to join in the conversation about building trust in remote teams!