Building relational confidence in remote and hybrid work
arrangements: novel ways to use digital technologies to
foster knowledge sharing

Building relational confidence in remote and hybrid work
arrangements: novel ways to use digital technologies to
foster knowledge sharing

relational confidence, communication visibility, enterprise social media, knowledge sharing, anticipatory communication

Remote and hybrid workers know fewer of their colleagues and have fewer strong workplace relationships. If strong relationships support
knowledge sharing, workers will have a harder time getting knowledge they need. Prior research shows that digital communication technologies
increase workers’ network-level knowledge of “who knows what” and “who knows who.” Yet, knowledge seekers may be hesitant to ask for
knowledge, particularly when they have concerns that their relationship with a knowledge source is too distant. We conduct a dyad-level study

of 141 instances of knowledge seeking among employees of a South American telecommunications company employing a hybrid work arrange-
ment and using an enterprise social media called Chatter. We find that specific uses of the technology help develop what we call “relational con-
fidence,” or the confidence that one has a close enough relationship to a colleague to ask and get needed knowledge. With greater relational

confidence, knowledge sharing is more successful.

Samantha M. Keppler1

, Paul M. Leonardi2,*

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad020

14 April 2023

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