Do You Have What It Takes To Work On A Remote Team?

Teresa Torres argues that remote teams are becoming the norm, and that companies focus too much on their benefits while underestimating the challenges. Drawing on her experience with distributed graduate-school teams and past companies, she offers practical advice on logistics such as using video, building rapport, and investing in face-to-face time. She then addresses cross-cultural differences in independence, hierarchy, and communication style, recommending that teams explicitly agree on norms. The piece matters because poorly managed remote teams lose trust and effectiveness, while deliberate norms make distributed collaboration work.

01Key takeaways

• Use video rather than voice-only calls so quieter and remote participants can engage.
• Open meetings with real social check-ins to build trust across distance.
• Spread the inconvenience of time-zone overlap across the whole team, not just remote members.
• Avoid informal decisions that leave remote colleagues out, since they feel like second-class citizens.
• Invest early in in-person visits; a short stretch together can dramatically improve cohesion.
• Explicitly agree on team norms for independence, hierarchy, and direct communication when cultures differ.

02Key sections

Logistics of remote work

Video calls beat voice-only meetings for group dynamics, and headsets help with audio quality. Teams should share the burden of time-zone differences rather than pushing it onto remote members.

Building rapport

Remote members miss informal interactions, so meetings should open with genuine social check-ins to build trust. Avoid making decisions in hallways or over lunch that exclude remote colleagues.

Face-to-face investment

A few days of in-person time can strongly cohere a distributed team, and the travel cost pays off over the team's life. The author cites a three-week visit that transformed a struggling partnership.

Cross-cultural differences

Independence versus interdependence, hierarchical versus egalitarian values, and direct versus indirect communication all shape how teams work. Each difference can cause confusion when unaddressed.

Establishing group norms

Teams that cross cultural boundaries should explicitly define norms for communication and decision-making. Doing so saves time and speeds the formation of a real team.

03From the post

“This post was written for Startup Edition in response to the question: How do you effectively work with remote teams? If you aren't already, it's only a matter of time before you'll be asked to consider working with a remote team. For most startups, this comes in”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.