Many organizations have been thrust into a hybrid work environment in the last two years, far more than most leaders expected or thought optimal at the start of the pandemic. Now, it appears likely that some form of hybrid work is here to stay, moreover. When workers are remote, they often have limited social contact with one another and connect primarily for transactional purposes. While there are benefits to hybrid work, this comes at a cost to trust greater than some may realize.
Trust is built on how we behave during numerous touchpoints between individuals, formal and informal. With hybrid work, many of those touchpoints have vanished. The relative isolation of a hybrid workforce makes difficult many of the pillars that previously formed the foundation of trust between individuals. Trust sits at the core of high functioning teams, successful collaboration across teams, and a strong organizational culture. Hybrid thus puts these outcomes in jeopardy.
It is a law of human nature that, as humans, we thrive when we trust and feel connected with our community. This law feels palpable in the present moment to many people, as many of us attempt to get by with less connection than we once did. A fundamental reason for the great resignation may be the fraying bonds we once felt toward other people with whom we worked.
But hybrid, when done right, does allow for rich trust-building interactions. In this webinar, we discussed how the central building blocks of trust can work even in a hybrid environment when we open ourselves up to making suitable shifts in our mindsets, communications and engagement styles, and leverage the best of what technology has to offer.
You will walk away from this webinar with:
- The 5 building blocks of trust
- New perspectives on how to develop these building blocks in a hybrid environment, and
- A peer-to-peer exchange on how relationships are being cultivated in a hybrid workplace