Long-distance Loathing

TIPS for IMPROVING

RELATIONSHIPS WITH REMOTE
COLLEAGUES
Talk before problems start. Invest
significant time talking about how youll
work together and establish ground rules
for airing future concerns.
Praise early wins. Take time early on to
acknowledge small successes and go the
extra mile to praise people publicly.
Never raise individual concerns publicly.
In long-distance crucial conversations
youre visually impaired (you cant read
body language) and the other person is
hearing impaired (they easily hear villainy
in your complaints). When bringing up
concerns with a colleague, always do so
one-to-one.
Start by clarifying what you DONT want
to say. Always begin by pointing out any
possible misinterpretations of what you
want to discuss.
Gain allies before raising problems with
a group. If you need to raise a crucial
issue with a group, vet your concerns with
remote teammates one-to-one beforehand.
Then ask for their help when you raise
the issuenot by taking your side but
by candidly raising their opinions so the
dialogue can be productive.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH. The study

collected responses via an online survey of 608
individuals in March of 2009. Margin of error is
approximately 3%.

LEARN NEW SKILLS. To learn how

Crucial Conversations Training can help
you improve relationships with remote
colleagues visit www.vitalsmarts.com or call
1.800.449.5989.

V I TA L S M A R T S R E S E A R C H

According to our study of more than 600 people, distance in the workplace does more harm

13 out of 14 common workplace

relationship problems occur far more frequently
within virtual teams (teams with members scattered
across various geographies) than within teams
located in the same building. In addition, problems with remote colleagues
than good. The research shows that

are significantly more difficult to solve and last longer than with on-site colleagues.
Whats worse, the most common
means of coping with the effects of
distance are not only destructive to
working relationships, they are also
destructive to overall productivity.
When people face challenges with
a colleague who works in a different
location, they either resort to silence
or other passive coping strategies,
or they become verbally violent
or attacking toward their colleague.
When resorting to silence, common
strategies include screening phone
calls from remote colleagues, not
returning their calls and e-mails,
leaving them out of the loop on
important decisions, or avoiding
working with them altogether.

KEY RESULTS

13 14

out of
common workplace
problems occur more frequently with virtual
teams than within teams located in the same
building

Problems

with remote
colleagues are significantly more difficult
to solve and last longer than with on-site
colleagues

methods

Common
of coping with the effects of distance are
destructive to working relationships and to
overall productivity

The research shows that the solution

isnt co-locationits communication.
The key is for leaders of virtual teams
to invest in the skills required to raise
emotionally and politically risky issues with virtual teammates in a candid but respectful way.
An innovator in corporate training and leadership development, VitalSmarts combines three
decades of original research with 50 years of the best social science thinking to help leaders and
organizations change human behavior and achieve new levels of performance. VitalSmarts has
identified four high-leverage skill sets that, when used in combination, create healthy corporate
cultures. These skills are taught in the Companys award-winning training programs and New York
Times bestselling books of the same titles: Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Influencer,
and Change Anything. VitalSmarts has consulted with more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies
and trained more than one million people worldwide. www.vitalsmarts.com