Work Better with People You’ve Never Met In Person: Eliminate the Relational Disconnect in Remote Teams
- Marcy Stoudt
- Jul 15
- 4 min read
Let’s be honest, building deep, productive relationships with people you’ve never met in person isn’t always easy. We used to rely on spontaneous hallway chats, catching up over coffee during offsites, or debriefing a meeting over lunch.
Those informal moments helped us build trust. They made space for vulnerability, context, and connection…the glue that holds high-performing teams together.
But today’s workplace looks different. Hybrid schedules, Zoom calls, and fully remote teams mean many of us lead people we’ve never physically sat next to. And that reality brings a new challenge: how do you make sure miscommunication, assumptions, and disengagement don’t creep into the team culture?
I’ve spent the past two decades helping executives and teams (and eventually my own team too!) grow through connection. And in the last few years, I’ve had to evolve how I model that myself. Here’s what I’ve learned:
The Remote Reality Behind My Own Company
My own team is a mix of time zones, work styles, and roles. My virtual assistant, Angel Arias, has supported me for years, and my digital marketing partner, Lucy Pittroff, has been with me for nearly half a decade…yet we’ve never met in person. Still, over time, we’ve developed a rhythm that feels seamless. We trust each other, communicate well, and truly work in sync.
That didn’t happen by chance. It happened through coaching, starting with myself.
Quick, unstructured feedback. Fast-moving deadlines. Digital communication that leaves too much open to interpretation. These habits are common in remote teams. And they’re a recipe for misaligned deliverables, missed expectations, and wasted time.
When things feel off, the solution isn’t to double down on control. It’s to ask better questions, get curious, and lead with more intention. That’s where coaching comes in.
The Three Disconnects in Remote Teams and How to Coach Through Them
Whether you’re running a hybrid org or leading an entirely remote team, these are the three most common breakdowns I coach clients through:
1. Assumed Alignment
When you don’t see your team daily, it’s easy to assume everyone’s on the same page. But assumptions create blind spots. Instead, coach toward clarity: “What does success look like for you on this project?” is a question I ask weekly (maybe even daily).
2. Emotional Distance
Screens create space, but they also create silence. People can feel isolated. There are countless ways to structure virtual meetings from 1:1 check-ins, small group breakouts, team-wide standups, even casual webinars or virtual coworking hours. The key is choosing formats that fit your team’s communication style and energy (and this may change week to week!).
3. Feedback Gaps
Remote feedback is often vague or incomplete. We help leaders build in proactive feedback loops that are both specific and personal. (Spoiler: “Looks good” isn’t feedback. And neither is “I don’t like this.”)
This goes both ways. Team members need clear, constructive input, but leaders also need feedback to grow. Creating a culture where feedback flows in all directions is essential to keeping remote teams aligned and engaged.
Why This Topic Matters
Remote work isn’t going anywhere, but connection can if we’re not intentional.
When leaders overlook the human side of remote and hybrid work, teams may still function, but they rarely thrive. According to Gallup, only 3 in 10 employees strongly agree that their opinions count at work. That number drops even lower in remote settings without consistent connection. And when people feel disconnected, engagement drops, performance suffers, and turnover creeps in.
At REVEL, our team doesn’t rely on one office (or even one time zone) to drive performance. We rely on intention. Every strong partnership we’ve built, every team rhythm that works, started with communication.
So if you're leading people you've never shared a room with, ask yourself:
Am I creating a culture of trust, or just trying to stay on track?
Have I given space for relationships or just assignments?
Do my people feel empowered, or simply managed?
Here’s the good news: it is possible to build meaningful relationships, strong team culture, and real trust even when you’ve never been in the same room. Reach out to hello@revelcoach.com if you want to talk!
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Marcy Stoudt is a seasoned sales leader dedicated to shaping the future of talent acquisition and executive coaching. As the founder of Revel Search and Revel Coach, Marcy collaborates with corporate clients to develop innovative strategies for attracting, advancing, and retaining top-tier talent.
During her 22 years at Allegis Group, Marcy was TEKsystems's first female Vice President. She led a team of 300 producers and delivered four consecutive years of revenue results at 18% CAGR, averaging $320 million annually. While at MarketSource, she established the Customer Experience Strategy for the Target Mobile outsourced sales team at 1,540 Target locations, fostering executive-level relationships with Target and Apple.
The Revel Coach™ Blog is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not mental health, financial, business or legal advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure or prevent any medical, mental or emotional condition. The information presented here is not a guarantee that you will obtain any results or earn any money using our content.
