Tips for building trust in a Virtual Team
“Will it be done by tomorrow, because we have the webinar tomorrow at 3 pm IST? I am really unable to finish it.”
“ You really don’t have to worry, you can count on me. I know that there are technical difficulties in making the content ready but together we can nail it.”
Before 2020 March, the above conversation would have seemed possible and believable to all, seemingly coming from an office setup. It also would cause a person to assume that the colleagues in the office would have worked together for a sufficiently long period of time to reach this level of cohesiveness and trust. But, who would even dream or think that the above conversation is real but not that of before March 2020. It is that of a team built after March 2020 just based on virtual communication entirely!!! I write here not based on imagination, but on real experiences that touched me very deeply in my life. These experiences are so much rooted with me that I cannot ever forget them. And it is amazing to even think that online communication for online training got this remote team together in such a way that something that was practically listless our lifeless came back to Life.
It is surprising that without even meeting each other, working days and nights, practically being on calls for zoom meetings and connecting for work sincerely was all possible merely virtually. What happened after 2020 March because of the pandemic thrust the entire team from remote corners and parts of the country where no one could have the humane or personal touch by physically meeting each other but managed to create the connection that would last a lifetime.
Serious goals, missions were set, and battling all the difficulties and the obstacles, this remote team managed to set up an academy of soft skills by calling together people to develop and write content, manage content, creatively imagine the outcome and successfully handle the digital marketing arena. People doubt the existence of such an organization, they also do not believe that online training or online communication can bring about the same effect as a face to face interaction. Beginning from scratch, things were communicated only on online mediums, there was absolutely no physical space where the remote team members met except for the online platforms. All members hailed from varied backgrounds, some battling single motherhood, some caregivers to the elderly, some having difficult marriages, etc. Don’t even get me started about the network issues and technical difficulties. But what was and is noteworthy and commendable is the fact that this Academy was born to help people in need of change during this terrible pandemic. What was the best part was that this team worked without meeting each other yet created an empire that reached out to not just national but also international people. The remote team trained themselves to utilize online platforms and considered each other their own kin, thus understanding each other’s constraints and making the project ongoing, not allowing it to die…..
I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful team who hasn’t even met yet has created something so beautiful and unique by reaching across the boundaries and touching many lives internationally. If we can do it, why can’t you?
