When working with teams, especially virtual ones, it’s tempting to jump right into the business to address the tasks at hand. But as every book on culture highlights, you need to have a foundation of trust before real work can be accomplished.
If the agenda is too packed, spending time on relationships is the first thing to be truncated. There may be hello pleasantries, but time is not dedicated to developing trust and safety which ultimately delays or derails the business aspects.
Some task-oriented leaders (and I am at times guilty of this myself) want to move ahead with “the work.” Remember that building trust is the work — the first work, the most important work, and the difference of whether other “work” can be done.
