Video
|
20
 minutes
Jared Fuller: Trust is the New Data | Supernode 2022
Video
|
 minutes
Marco De Paulis: Why You Should Always Give Value Before You Get It — Supernode 2023
Video
|
 minutes
Increase Partner Engagement & Grow Partner Pipeline by 26%
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #74: Reactive Partner Marketers Are Salary Wasted with Jessica Fewless
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #73: The Modern Interconnectedness of Brand, Employee Advocacy, and Ecosystems
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #72: Psychology of team wide buy in: The Answer to Partner Program Success
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #71: Natasha Walstra on Increasing Luck Surface Area in Business
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #69: Why Fractional Partner Management with Pat Ferdig
Video
|
22
 minutes
Howdy Partners #60: Navigating Partnerships in 2023 and Planning for 2024 - Will Taylor, Ben Wright
Video
|
22
 minutes
Howdy Partners #57: Managing Chaos in Partnership Programs - Negar Nikaeein
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #54: Using AI to Drive Partnerships with Jessica Baker
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #53: Getting Executive Buy in On Partnerships with Josh Baumrind
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #49: Placing Customers Front and Center Through a Partnerships Lens
Video
|
32
 minutes
Howdy Partners #46: Driving Revenue Together
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #38: The 80 20 Rule Balancing Revenue & Influence
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #36: Nearbound
Video
|
21
 minutes
Howdy Partners #33: How to Get the Most Out of Partnership Communities
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #35: Productive Partner Recruitment
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #31: The Salesforce Ecosystem: Tech vs. Service Partner Perspectives
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #29: Developing Examples to Foster Internal Buy In
Video
|
 minutes
Howdy Partners #26: What to Look for in Partnership Talent
Video
|
28
 minutes
How to Organize, Prioritize, and Expand Partnerships
Video
|
49
 minutes
How to Leverage Account Mapping for Revenue Growth
Video
|
18
 minutes
How to Ignite Co-Selling and Collaboration with Reps in Salesforce | Connector Summit 2022
Video
|
 minutes
From Recruitment to Revenue: How to Turn Your Ideal Partner Into ARR
Video
|
 minutes
Friends with Benefits #36: Operationalizing Partner Programs with Aaron Howerton
Video
|
61
 minutes
Friends with Benefits #26 - The Power of Small, Consistent Steps - Justin Zimmerman
Video
|
 minutes
Friends with Benefits #33: Valentine’s Day Special
Video
|
 minutes
Friends with Benefits #24: Building Tasty Partnerships with Grayson Hogard
Video
|
 minutes
Friends with Benefits #22: Building Revenue Generating Partnerships with Cody Sunkel
Video
|
29
 minutes
Foundations of Partner Ecosystems for Efficient Growth
Video
|
 minutes
Friends With Benefits #05: Be Like Messi
Video
|
45
 minutes
ELG Blend Webinar Series Vol. 2: Typeform CRO Kristen Habacht
Video
|
45
 minutes
ELG Blend Webinar Series Vol. 1: Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta
Video
|
27
 minutes
Delete: Nearbound Marketing #33: The Nearbound ABM Play You Can Run Today - Blake Wiliams
Video
|
64
 minutes
Delete: Friends with Benefits #19: ABM for Partner Pros - Blake Williams
Video
|
 minutes
Ecosystem Activation Made Easy
Video
|
19
 minutes
Cristina Flaschen: Proving the ROI of partnerships | Supernode 2022
Video
|
22
 minutes
Bob Moore: Partnerships Are the Most Effective Business Growth Lever | Supernode 2022
Video
|
20
 minutes
Bob Moore: Using Communities to Supercharge Ecosystem-Led Growth | Pavilion ELEVATE 2023
Video
|
24
 minutes
Andy Cochran: How to Clone Yourself | Supernode 2023
Video
|
19
 minutes
Alexis Petrichos & Nicolas Vandenberghe: How Chili Piper Became an Ecosystem-Led Company | Supernode 2023
Video
|
 minutes
Agencies and Tech Partnerships with Alex Glenn
Getting Buy-In
Build Affective and Cognitive Trust to Bond With Your Remote Team. Here’s How.
by
Jasmine Jenkins
SHARE THIS

Know Your Team CEO Claire Lew on why affective and cognitive trust are the key to social connection, and how to ask better questions during 1:1 meetings.

by
Jasmine Jenkins
SHARE THIS

In this article

Join the movement

Subscribe to ELG Insider to get the latest content delivered to your inbox weekly.

By Jasmine Jenkins

November 10, 2020

You can’t be a successful partnership professional if you can’t connect with people. The ability to communicate, build trust, and collaborate well with others practically comes with the job description. Which, in case you haven’t realized yet, can be challenging to do in a remote setting. It can feel daunting (and sometimes, even awkward) to build connections with your coworkers when they’re merely a grid of faces on your screen.

While there isn’t a hack for mastering remote-work relationships, there are experts who can steer us in the right direction. In our third Crossbeam Happy Hour, Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team, explains: 

  • The two kinds of trust required for social connection
  • How to ask better questions in your 1:1 meetings (and make them less monotonous)

The Two Kinds of Trust You Need From Your Coworkers

Virtual happy hours and team-building games at your monthly all-hands meetings are always fun and entertaining—but a monthly virtual gathering isn’t enough for building tight-knit relationships. 

Why? Because social connection is about building trust, specifically two kinds:

  1. Affective trust – the warmth and rapport you share with someone.
  2. Cognitive trust – your belief about someone’s competence and capability.

 

Affective Trust

“ [Affective trust is] one type of trust that we really rely on as a team to be effective… [It’s] the kind of trust that is based on the feeling you have about someone that’s positive,” says Lew. “It’s enormously important in a remote team because you don’t get that as much.”

In a remote setting, we often overinvest in excelling at our job and performing well (cognitive trust) vs. getting to know our colleagues (affective trust). Affective trust is needed most in the beginning of a new relationship. 

The days of sharing your weekend plans in the breakroom or getting after-work drinks might not be as doable as they used to be, but you should still create space in your virtual work day to spark those conversations whether it’s through a Slack DM or a virtual coffee chat. Lew suggests establishing a buddy system to help new hires get to know their teammates (and vice versa), or creating dedicated non-work channels in Slack or Teams for people to socialize (e.g. a pets channel for folks to share stories and photos about their furry family members). 

She recommends, “When you start a meeting, instead of spending five minutes to ask about your colleague’s weekend, spend 20.” Your natural instinct might be to immediately get down to business when a meeting begins (after all, aren’t we all busy?). However, a simple, “How was your weekend?” or “What have you been binge-watching on Netflix?” not only lightens the mood, but it also gives you a chance to build rapport with your teammate. 

 

Cognitive Trust

Cognitive trust is your “belief in someone’s dependability and reliability.” You build cognitive trust through your actions. It’s your ability to follow through on your word, show humility, and do what’s best for your team. 

To gauge how well you’re building cognitive trust, Lew suggests asking yourself, “Am I following through on what I promised to the team? Am I being vulnerable in admitting my mistakes? Am I explaining why we’re doing certain things in a team?”

Each time you show your competence, it’s like you’re making little deposits in your team’s cognitive trust bank.

Bottom line: You need both affective and cognitive trust to cultivate connection. Don’t just wait for the monthly happy hour to build rapport with your colleagues. Intentionally seek out those interactions and make time for them during your work day or work week.

Use 1:1 Meetings to Build Both Kinds of Trust

When 1:1 meetings are done correctly, they’re a powerful tool to support your coworkers and build both affective and cognitive trust with them. Scheduling a 1:1 meeting isn’t enough, though—you need to ask thoughtful questions. 

Ditch questions that are notorious for getting dull responses:

  • What should we improve?
  • Tell me how I can help you as a manager or teammate?
  • What can I be doing better?
  • What’s going well?
  • How’s it going?
  • What feedback do you have for me?

Instead, opt for questions that get the other person talking (think: the more specific, the better):

  • When have you felt bored?
  • What projects or meetings have energized you?
  • What have you noticed about your remote work environment that’s helped you do great work or been a blocker to you?
  • Do you feel like we’re having too many meetings? Too many Slack DMs?
  • Do you want to be included in more social interactions or more meetings?
  • When have you been annoyed or bothered by something in the last two weeks?

(We also find these questions from Know Your Team and HubSpot to be super helpful. Give them a try at your next 1:1 meeting!)

If you’re curious about how you can be a stellar remote teammate and communicator, then watch the full interview with Claire Lew. She covers the three basic mindset shifts you need in a remote setting, how to grapple with feeling tired when working from home, and more:

 

 

You’ll also be interested in these

Article
|
5
 minutes
Article
|
5
 minutes
Article
|
5
 minutes