Don’t let distance create suspicion
Way back in the day, I was news director of a regional TV service with staff spread across four offices.
Even though I worked hard at staying connected with my teams, I was surprised by how often small issues quickly turned into “us and them” misunderstandings.
It’s human nature. Distance is a barrier to trust.
In 2026, with so many variations of hybrid work in the mix, this is more relevant than ever.
As a leader if you’re not in the same physical location as your team or some individuals, you need to double down on communication.
That takes time and energy. In a busy day, sometimes the team catchup is the first casualty on the calendar.
Because it feels hard, leaders can tend to communicate less frequently and assume silence will be interpreted as “no news is good news”. That rarely ends well.
You can avoid those traps when working with hybrid teams (and this applies equally to in-person teams) by:
Being disciplined in your cadence of communication. Don’t sacrifice team discussions to an overloaded calendar. Connect and share, even if there’s nothing drastic to discuss.
Saying the same thing everywhere. When you’re having a phone chat here, a Team meeting there and an all-staff email on Mondays, messages can become mixed. Be consistent across every channel.
Staying visible, even if you’re not in the same room. Zoom might make you cringe, but suck it up and have the on-camera conversation anyway. People need to see you regularly. Out of sight is out of mind and potentially out of trust.
In my latest YouTube video I delve deeper how you can build trust in hybrid teams. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/A7Y72UIIqZE
