Building Remote-First Teams That Actually Work

Remote work is not about replicating an office online. It is about redesigning work for asynchronous collaboration. After leading distributed teams across four continents, here is my playbook.

The Async-First Manifesto

The biggest mistake remote teams make is trying to maintain synchronous communication patterns. Meetings become longer. Slack becomes a firehose. Everyone is exhausted.

The best remote work happens when no one needs to be online at the same time.

The Communication Pyramid

Not all communication is equal. I use this hierarchy:

1. Permanent Documentation (Notion, Confluence) — For decisions and processes

2. Async Discussion (GitHub, Linear) — For feedback and iteration

3. Ephemeral Chat (Slack, Discord) — For quick questions only

4. Synchronous Meetings — Reserved for relationship building and complex decisions

The Meeting Audit

Every recurring meeting should pass this test:

The Documentation Standard

In remote teams, documentation is not optional. It is the oxygen of the organization. Every project should have:

• A one-page brief explaining the why

• A decision log tracking choices made

• A status update cadence (weekly, async)

• A retrospective summary when complete

The Human Element

Remote work can be isolating. Intentionally design for connection:

• Virtual coffee chats — Random 1:1s with no agenda

• Team offsites — Quarterly in-person gatherings

• Celebration rituals — Public kudos, milestone acknowledgments

Building a distributed team? I have done it across time zones. Let us design something that works.