{"id":20913,"date":"2013-10-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:25:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:25:37","slug":"first-impressions-in-virtual-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-13787\" src=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/trust-330x219.jpg\" alt=\"trust\" width=\"330\" height=\"219\" \/>Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust builds over time as we work together. \u00a0This view of trust means that I\u2019ll trust you only when you have shown yourself to be trust-worthy through your actions.\u00a0 It also views trust as a purely \u201ccognitive\u201d activity \u2013 &#8216;my&#8217; trusting &#8216;you&#8217; is a rational response to what has happened between us.<\/p>\n<p>This raises some major questions for all of us who are working in an international matrix or in <a title=\"virtual teams\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/training-for-virtual-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a virtual team<\/a>. \u00a0In these environments there is often no personal history.\u00a0 In these situations does trust really start from zero and gradually develop?\u00a0 Also what about trusting people we haven\u2019t met or can\u2019t meet \u2013 does this change things?<\/p>\n<h2>&#8220;Swift Trust&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>It \u00a0seems that the traditional view of trust is only a part of the picture and, indeed, trust doesn\u2019t start from zero.<\/p>\n<p>This, the initial level of trust &#8216;I&#8217; place in &#8216;you&#8217;, in the absence of any interaction with &#8216;you&#8217;, is called \u201cswift trust\u201d or \u201cdisposition to trust\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>An article I read recently \u2013 \u201cIndividual Swift Trust and Knowledge-Based Trust in Face-to-Face and Virtual Team Members\u201d made a couple of really interesting observations which anyone who is working internationally needs to be aware of.<\/p>\n<p>The authors found that the \u201ccategory\u201d that you belong determines my \u201cdisposition to trust\u201d. This means that the category label &#8216;I&#8217; apply to &#8216;you&#8217; affects how much &#8216;I&#8217; trust you.\u00a0 Category labels might \u00a0include any or all of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>your nationality (German, British, Japanese American etc.)<\/li>\n<li>your function (Sales, Legal, Human Resources etc.)<\/li>\n<li>potentially even things like your gender, ethnic background etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is disturbing enough in its own right: it highlights that trust is actually not as rational or reasoned as we might think, but is \u201cintuitive\u201d too.\u00a0 Not only that, but the more different &#8216;you&#8217; are from &#8216;me&#8217;, the less &#8216;I&#8217; will naturally trust you.\u00a0 And, of course, the more similar &#8216;we&#8217; are, the more &#8216;I&#8217; am disposed to trust &#8216;you&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, their studies also showed that &#8216;my&#8217; initial view of &#8216;your&#8217; trustworthiness also determines how &#8216;I&#8217; view the interactions &#8216;we&#8217; have.\u00a0 So if, for example, &#8216;I&#8217; think you don\u2019t deserve my trust (i.e. my disposition to trust is low), then &#8216;I&#8217; (subconsciously) put a negative slant on &#8216;our&#8217; interactions.\u00a0\u00a0 This means that whilst the effect of \u201cswift trust\u201d declines and \u201cknowledge-based\u201d trust becomes dominant, \u201cswift trust\u201d is actually quite \u201csticky\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>For managers in a matrix this has some very important implications.\u00a0Here are just a few things to do to ensure trust develops the way you want it to: &#8211;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Create a strongly trusting atmosphere around you and within the company;<\/li>\n<li>Look for and emphasise things that you have in common;<\/li>\n<li>Manage the interactions with your team, especially in the early stages;<\/li>\n<li>Keep double checking for the potentially damaging self-reinforcing judgements that you are subconsciously making.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Practical steps on building trust in an international matrix are <a title=\"training\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/matrix-management-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a key part of our training<\/a> so please contact us if you would like more information.<\/p>\n<p><cite>Reference: &#8220;Individual Swift Trust and Knowledge-Based Trust in Face-to-Face and Virtual Team Members\u201d, \u00a0by Robert,Jr., Lionel P.\u00a0,\u00a0Dennis, Alan R<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmis-web.org\/cgi-bin\/gencontrib.pl?Alan+R.+Dennis+111\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">.<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hung, Yu-Ting Caisy.<b>\u00a0<\/b>Journal of Management Information Systems, Fall 2009, Vol. 26 No. 2.\u00a0pp. 241 &#8211; 279,\/cite&gt;<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"title title--h4 title--purple\">Why not&#8230;.?<\/h3>\n<p>Contact us to find out more about our training in matrix management, virtual teams, and global working &#8211; situations where trust plays a vital role: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact us<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","type-blog","training-virtual-teams"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Impressions in Virtual Teams - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Impressions in Virtual Teams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2aa8a2350318419aecdc6713dc9c5532\"},\"headline\":\"First Impressions in Virtual Teams\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":592,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/trust-330x219.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Impressions in Virtual Teams - Global Integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/trust-330x219.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First Impressions in Virtual Teams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"www.global-integration.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"width\":312,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Global Integration\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/global-integration\"],\"description\":\"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally\",\"email\":\"kevan@global-integation.com\",\"foundingDate\":\"1994-04-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2aa8a2350318419aecdc6713dc9c5532\",\"name\":\"John\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/author\\\/john\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams - Global Integration","description":"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams","og_description":"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust","og_url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/","og_site_name":"Global Integration","article_published_time":"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00","author":"John","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/"},"author":{"name":"John","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2aa8a2350318419aecdc6713dc9c5532"},"headline":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams","datePublished":"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/"},"wordCount":592,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/trust-330x219.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/","name":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams - Global Integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/trust-330x219.jpg","datePublished":"2013-10-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T16:25:37+00:00","description":"Traditionally, trust has been thought to be the result of a personal knowledge of an individual\u2019s past behaviour and therefore that our (mutual) trust","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/first-impressions-in-virtual-teams\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First Impressions in Virtual Teams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","name":"www.global-integration.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization","name":"Global Integration","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","width":312,"height":271,"caption":"Global Integration"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/global-integration"],"description":"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally","email":"kevan@global-integation.com","foundingDate":"1994-04-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2aa8a2350318419aecdc6713dc9c5532","name":"John","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John"},"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/author\/john\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}