Trust dynamics and the role of alternating modes of collaboration in hybrid work

Abstract

Hybrid work increasingly shifts collaboration toward technology-based virtual interactions parallel to traditional face-to-face contacts. Since trust dynamics are a crucial part of collaboration in organizations, we investigate how they develop in this hybrid approach to collaboration. Findings from a case study conducted during an innovation contest at a large university reveal that alternating between collaboration modes in hybrid work can intensify trust dynamics, as online practices that supplement offline practices can shape the trust dynamics relevant to effective collaboration. We identify five stages of trust dynamics: formation, facilitation, establishment, acceleration, and reinforcement of trust. While we consider operating practices to support trust intensification, we find that users’ embrace of both offline and online spaces is the driving force that triggers the transition from one stage of trust dynamics to the next. Our findings demonstrate the Janus-faced nature of technological affordances: while technologies such as instant messaging are typically used for task-related exchanges in teams, in our hybrid collaboration setting, we found that these technologies were also used for non-task-related exchanges, which we usually observe in face-to-face settings. This finding presents a significant theoretical puzzle related to the evolution of trust, which is greatly determined by the trust and reliance behavior of people: Whereas disclosure behavior has historically been linked to in-person interactions and reliance behavior to operational duties, the growing use of technology in hybrid work environments seems to blur these concepts of trusting behavior. This requires a more thorough investigation of how disclosure and reliance behaviors and trust dynamics shift in hybrid work environments, especially where operational and emotional behaviors converge. The study contributes to research by developing a novel framework for the dynamics of trust in hybrid work.