„How can you truly connect with people
when working remotely?“

This question has followed me throughout my career spanning decades of remote collaboration. From 90s phone conferences to today’s advanced video and virtual reality platforms, I’ve witnessed and took an active part in shaping my/our evolution of virtual teamwork.

For nearly 10 years, I’ve operated fully remote while meaningfully connecting with colleagues worldwide, leading teams ranging from 2 to 25,000 people across diverse networks and communities.

I was struck today by Job van der Voort and Marcelo Lebre’s insightful perspective from REMOTE.com that challenges our conventional thinking:

what if our physical workspaces
actually encourage us to be an actor
rather than be authentic?

Their discussion perfectly articulates something I’ve observed repeatedly: traditional offices often separate personal identity from professional roles, creating what systems theorist Niklas Luhmann described as „autonomous systems of communication, not collectives of individuals.“

Many of my most successful remote collaboration experiences have consistently demonstrated that virtual environments can/should excel at balancing our humanity with our professional identities.

If humans stay humans (not resources*),
they not only put their expertise in,
but their love, passion and soul!

… and having way more fun getting things done together

*this is why I dislike the HR term „Human Resources“ and loved when our Continental CHRO Ariane Reinhart renamed it to Human Relations. Many others call it „people..“ which I also think is more respectful.

Balancing the profession and human part, creates the foundation of trust essential for effective collaboration and respectful communication. In addition, „profession“ (except it is truly outstanding) does not stick too long in our memory, an emotional connection to another person does.

As we continue shaping the future of work, I remain passionate about developing methods that strengthen human connections across digital spaces, fostering environments where authenticity and professionalism complement rather than compete with each other.

In our organization – together with our global GUIDE network, we developed various specific toolboxes e.g. for

• Hybrid Moderation
• Buddy Onboarding
• Virtual Conferencing
• VR events
• Getting things done in asynchronous teams

The REMOTE team also created a list of activities for remote teams, I can highly recommend:

• https://remote.com/blog/remote-team-building-activities

What approaches have you found most effective for building genuine connections in remote settings?