How can you establish trust with stakeholders while working from home?
If you’ve been mulling over this question, you’re not alone.
In fact, speakers from Nutanix, Coinbase, Puppet, and Uber, discussed this very issue at a session in this year’s Biz Systems Magic Conference. Here are some of the solutions they offered up!
Interested in hearing everything they shared? You can catch the entire session by watching its recording.
Focus on People, Data, and Technology
The panelists agreed that putting the focus on people, data, and technology can bolster rapport with stakeholders. Here’s a closer look at some of the ideas they offered in each area:
Put People First
When it comes to building trust, people are at the heart of the issue. All of the panelists agreed that this situation calls for overcommunication and that organizations need to be transparent with external and internal stakeholders.
The panelists recommended that you find out-of-the box ways to connect with those you’d normally have face-to-face interactions with. Some examples include:
- Scheduling informal chats/meetings that aren’t work-related
- Hosting happy hours via video conference
- Sending stakeholders gifts, whether it’s lunch, swag, or a gift card
In addition, they offered up a few different areas of focus for the two types of stakeholders:
External stakeholders (vendors, customers, and partners)
- Set the precedent for open communication, as feedback is vital to building trust
- Provide timelines on your projects proactively so that stakeholders know what to expect and can better manage their time
Internal stakeholders (employees)
- Establish predictable deliverables to set cadences and clear expectations for projects
- Communicate clear priorities so that all employees are aligned with business goals
Share Your Data
The speakers highlighted the need to be transparent with your data, as it can help colleagues and partners understand where you’re coming from. This is especially true for data that falls under your objectives and key results.
Sharing data also facilitates a cycle of trust internally. For example, as trust grows, more departments will be willing to share their data, which builds more trust.
Finally, you can facilitate trust with customers by letting them know how you use their data to improve their experiences. This shows them how committed you are to their success, and it can persuade them to share even more of their data (with the intention of improving their experiences further).
Invest in Technology
Changes in your organization, workforce, and processes will affect the workloads and responsibilities that each of your employees face.
To better understand your employees’ workloads and to set them up for success, you’ll need to uncover their needs and identify technology that can effectively address them. For example, if employees are burdened with performing manual tasks, you can invest in workflow automations that help your team avoid all, if not many, of these tasks.
Once you’ve equipped your team with the right technology, they’ll not only trust you more, but they’ll also have greater confidence in their ability to perform their job.
As for customers, your ability to invest in technology that delivers a more seamless and intuitive product experience should go a long way in building trust and keeping their business.
Discover more actionable insights from our speakers by watching the entire session here.
