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Comment by ed25519FUUU | Hacker News Reader

> Real time, remote communication through tools like zoom, slack, and lucidchart (in my humble opinion) has been solved. It might take some getting used to, but in the right environment a group of properly motivated individuals can achieve the same productivity as their peers in a conference room.

What is not solved, of course, is how a remote-only employee can build trust and relationships with peers.

In my opinion that’s the reason a lot of remote work is working well right now. Everybody already knows each other.

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> What is not solved, of course, is how a remote-only employee can build trust and relationships with peers.

You're saying that trust can't be built virtually? I think there are online communities whose members would say they trust each other, and can collaborate and work together just fine. A lot of open source communities certainly work on this basis.

Besides, working remote-only doesn't mean occasional meetups or virtual events (gaming, etc.) couldn't be held to bring the team more socially together, but I don't think this is a requirement.

Of course, trust is subjective, so others will feel differently about what it takes to establish it for all involved, but that applies for physical communication as well.

Trust can be built virtually, but it requires large and conscious effort, whereas in person most people who work closely will automatically develop trust.

Through projects? I'm working remotely and it's the same as in person. First few months is about everyone feeling each other out once you understand more you give people more trust in those areas.

First few months is often the duration of a project, especially for those working on a contract basis.

Remote and in person can reach the same level of trust and productivity, but I do believe that people reach that level faster in person as opposed to oddly forced zoom happy hours.

It might be false trust. I wouldn't use conversation to judge in person or remotely. Is what is commited into the repo after a week or two what I expected. Is what documentation was produced what I expected?

Agreed. Also - one benefit of going remote is you can more easily avoid anyone you dislike! So that's a win over the office.

This can also backfire when it's easier to avoid confrontation which if resolved would be a net gain for everyone.

Most confrontations can be resolved beforehand. The confrontation is unnecessary, take small steps to improve relations. Even a firing shouldn't be a confrontation it should be part of a process .

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