Working virtually sometimes means never meeting anyone in person.
Some people really flip when they learn I have never met most of my clients face to face. Nor half of my team members for that matter. They are all spread out from the Atlantic Ocean here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to the Pacific and located in both Canada and the US. Unless I was a travelling whiz, it would not be possible to meet everyone.
Once people discover the no face to face aspect of my business, the next questions tend to be:
- “How do you work like that?”
- “How can you trust the Clients are who they say they are?”
- “How do the Clients trust you and your team?”
- “How can you hire someone you never met?”
And then the once again reiteration… “You never meet any of them??”
Not “any”, but yes, most of them I have not met.
Whether it is me and the clients, my team and the clients or me and the team… we all work virtually and as a virtual or remote team, the “Trust Factor” is the key to making it all work and work without ever having met most of these people.
All parties have to have the level of trust that “we all are who we say we are and will follow through on what we do” to make it all a successful relationship for everyone. Being open and honest and checking out each other online and having a good intro conversation helps. As do ongoing talks and conversations, whether via phone, email or Skype. Sometimes clients and I discuss non-work topics and the same with team members. It’s about building those relationships, and its our nature to connect with people. Those connections build the trust as well. Referral business helps this a lot, because for the new person reaching out – they have another voice giving the ‘okay’ about me.
After Trust, I really feel Communication is the next most important aspect of working virtually.
Knowing the ways you like to communicate and also how your clients and team do, is important to making sure you ‘talk as needed’ to get the job done.
And how you use your words is very important as well.
One thing I am famous for is “Kathy-Speak” – typing slower than my brain talks to me and missing pieces and also typing in left to right order on the keyboard (again my fingers are not following my brain fast enough). I know I do this so I re-read things to try and be sure I have included everything.
And sometimes it cannot all be done via email – a phone call helps figure everything out much faster.
With Communication it is important to know your own style as well as the clients or your team members. Making sure you can communicate so all parties get the message will do you well in delivering great service along with building more trust in what you do and who you are.
Trust and Communication – they are top on my list of Successful Virtual Working Relationships.
What is your #1 tip to making virtual or in person relationships work for you?
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