Page 97 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

76 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

ums available today to communicate and collaborate, it is not required
anymore. What is required is that there is an element of trust and that
there is confidence that people are clear on the expectations, and doing the
right thing, following through.

The more clearly you make those expectations in a mobile work
environment, the higher the level of trust you can build. Without
clear expectations people will be wondering what they are supposed to
be doing. And in a mobile setting, accountability initially may need to
be more frequently reported in order to reinforce those expectations.
Trust is built on credibility—your competence and your character.
And it is the result of your behavior. A virtual environment puts a
great premium on establishing credibility and your behavior, Stephen
said, because it is harder to see it than when in face-to-face situations.
That is why it is so important for leaders in virtual situations to clar-
ify up front the expectations of themselves and the team. Extending
trust, Stephen told us, is also crucial.
“Extending trust is the best way to make trust,” he told us, and
shared an example.

I talked with one virtual worker who said that early on as she started
to work virtually the key was to earn the trust of their manager. They
had to do some things early on that they might not have had to do in a
proximate, on-site location. Once they established they could be trusted,
they found they were extended even more trust because they’d earned
it—they’d proven it. More was granted. I asked what they had to do
early on. What they highlighted was they had to communicate more. They
had to make it clear early on what they were working on and what they
were doing. They did that. They maybe over communicated, but what
happened was it gave people some sense of certainty. It gave them some
clarity of what was happening.

The trust had been earned. Once it had been earned, the fact that
it was virtual didn’t matter enormously, and the relationship was able
to go further, faster. As Stephen relates: