Building trust with a remote or distributed stakeholder requires starting with the highest-bandwidth communication channel available — in person, then 1:1 video, then group video call, then async written communication (e.g., email) — in that descending order. Trust built at high bandwidth is what makes lower-bandwidth async communication viable later; attempting to build a new stakeholder relationship purely over async channels skips the step where trust actually forms.
Relates to Communication Altitude Levels (10,000 ft / 3,000 ft / In the Grids) (a different axis — level of detail, not channel bandwidth) and to Coaching in Bursts (Remote Work Compensation) (a similar remote-work adaptation, applied to coaching rather than stakeholder trust-building).
Ranked from highest to lowest bandwidth/intimacy: in person, then 1:1 video, then group calls, then async email. Use the highest rung available for a given stakeholder, and meet key stakeholders in person at least occasionally — "people aren't quite 100% real to each other until they've actually met in person and shaken hands, then somehow they're not pixels anymore, they're a human." Guerrilla in-person tactics like the The Un-Meeting and Coffee-Machine Ambush exist precisely to manufacture that top rung when a formal meeting isn't available; the Short-Message Technique for Busy Executives uses a low-bandwidth channel only as a door-opener to a higher one.
Из тем: Stakeholder Power and Trust