Why Remote Team Cohesion Matters More Than Ever
Remote work isn’t going anywhere, but let’s be honest: a lot of remote teams struggle with cohesion. Strety has been built from scratch with a distributed team (though we love our IRL moments, too!).
What we’ve learned as remote team leaders is that most “remote work problems” are actually just business problems that get amplified when people aren’t in the same room.
You know what we’re talking about — meetings that could’ve been emails, unclear expectations, projects that somehow fall through the cracks. When everyone’s in the office, you can paper over these issues with hallway conversations and quick desk-side chats. But put people in different locations and suddenly every crack in your foundation becomes a canyon.
The good news is that building remote team cohesion isn’t rocket science. It’s about creating intentional systems that foster connection and accountability. Read on to find out what’s actually worked for successful distributed teams (like ours).
The Foundation: Why Remote Teams Need Structure to Thrive
Here’s something we wish someone had told us earlier: remote teams don’t need more flexibility — they need more structure. We know that sounds counterintuitive, but hear us out.
When you can’t see what everyone’s working on, when you can’t tap someone on the shoulder to clarify something, when you’re not sure if that important message actually got through — that’s when structure becomes your lifeline. Not the rigid, soul-crushing kind of structure, but the kind that creates clarity and frees people up to do their best work.
We’ve seen this transformation repeatedly across teams implementing business operating systems. That’s what happens when people know exactly where they stand and how their work matters. It’s not about control — it’s about clarity. When you implement EOS, working on your core processes will go a long way to creating a supportive structure for your team.
Remote Team Communication: The L10 Meeting Framework
Transforming Remote Meetings from Time-Wasters to Productivity Boosters
Let us tell you about something that completely transformed how our teams operate: the Level 10 Meeting™. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a structured weekly meeting format that comes from EOS® (Entrepreneurial Operating System).
Before we started using this framework, our meetings were terrible. People would show up unprepared, we’d spend twenty minutes catching up on random stuff, and half the team would be multitasking. Sound familiar?
Now? Teams report dramatically improved efficiency. As one leadership team shared: “Our meetings are so much more efficient now. We know exactly what we’re going to talk about and we just follow the order and knock them out. Our leadership meetings are now 45 minutes.”
The Key Elements of Effective Remote Team Meetings
When you’re getting ready for your remote team meetings, remember that the magic isn’t in the specific agenda items — it’s in the consistency:
- Same format every week: Predictable structure eliminates confusion
- Clear agenda items: Everyone knows what to prepare
- Time-boxed discussions: Keeps meetings focused and productive
- Action items with owners: Ensures accountability between meetings
Remote Team Accountability: Making Performance Visible with Scorecards
Creating Transparency Without Micromanagement
One of the biggest challenges with remote teams is knowing how everyone’s actually doing. Not in a Big Brother way, but in a “how can we help you succeed” way.
This is where scorecards become game-changers. We’re talking about simple, weekly metrics that everyone can see. As one MSP president shared: “The scorecard is a big one — having those metrics out in the open that anyone can view is really powerful. From a leadership perspective, having some of our scorecards be so public has helped us be more accountable.”
Benefits of Transparent Team Metrics
Here’s what we love about the EOS approach for scorecards:
- Early problem detection: See struggles before they become crises
- Peer learning opportunities: High performers can mentor others
- Celebration of wins: Success becomes visible and shareable
- Data-driven discussions: Replace opinions with facts
“I read a lot about employee engagement, and one of the problems that I see quite a bit is that people just don’t know what to do. We’ve gotten to a point where we’re clear what we want to do by staying accountable with EOS.”
Remote Team Technology: Integration Over Addition
The Critical Mistake Most Remote Teams Make
Now, let us share something that took us way too long to figure out: your operating system needs to live where your people actually work.
We used to think we could just add another tool to the stack. “Hey team, log into this platform for our weekly meeting stuff, then go back to Teams for everything else.” What a joke. Nobody wants to juggle fifteen different logins just to do their job.
The breakthrough comes when teams use tools that integrate with what they were already using. That’s why Strety is built to integrate your business operating system with your existing tools. One leader from the UK explained:
“I love the fact that Strety is integrated within Teams, which we try to use throughout our whole organization. That integration immediately checked the box of lightening the load of log-ins for our team.”
Essential Features for Remote Team Tools
When evaluating technology for remote team cohesion, prioritize:
- Native integrations with existing communication tools
- Single sign-on to reduce friction
- Collaboration features
- Automated notifications and reminders
The Compound Effect: How Small Changes Create Big Results
Here’s something we’ve learned from running multiple businesses. You don’t need to knock it out of the park every day to be successful; you just need to get a little bit better every day. Compounding works like magic.
“The best businesses really focus on the little things, too, like 10 minutes back here and 7 minutes back there. When the small daily wins are compounded over the year, you’re making some massive changes in the business.”
—Georg Dauterman, Valiant Technology
This is especially true for remote teams. Every friction point gets magnified when people aren’t in the same room. But every smooth process, every clear expectation, every seamless integration — those get magnified too.
We’ve watched teams go from chaotic to calm, from reactive to proactive, just by implementing consistent systems that actually work together.
Overcoming Remote Team Challenges: Real Success Stories
Multi-Location Operation
Brian Greer, who uses EOS to run his franchises, attributes EOS and Strety with helping to create cohesion across distributed teams. He explained:
“Running one business that’s located in four places can obviously be challenging — you can’t be everywhere at once. And different locations have different needs. Strety makes it easier for me and for our general manager to quickly home in on different metrics for different locations.”
Technology Integration Success
One IT services company found that integration was the key to adoption. Their interim president noted:
“The single pane of glass for a team member, where they can see all of their To Dos, whether it’s a 1:1 or multiple L10s, is great for keeping track of tasks. There has been a lot of sentiment from team members around the fact that Strety keeps them so much more organized.”
The Holding Company Coordination
A family-owned holding company using EOS to manage multiple portfolio companies in different locations uses task and communication tools to maintain cohesion across complex operations. Their team shared:
“The functionality for delegating To Dos and cascading messages has been instrumental for us. In each of our companies we conduct weekly leadership L10 meetings, along with biweekly marketing meetings, all organized and facilitated through Strety.”
Remote Team Culture: It’s About People, Not Just Process
Here’s what we really want you to understand: all the tools and processes in the world won’t save you if you don’t genuinely care about your people succeeding.
Remote work can be isolating. People need to know they matter, that their work contributes to something bigger, and that someone notices when they’re struggling or when they’re doing great work.
The most successful remote teams we’ve seen aren’t the ones with the fanciest tech stack. They’re the ones where leaders are intentional about creating connection, where people feel safe to speak up when something isn’t working, and where everyone understands how their individual success ties to the team’s success.
This is why we’re so obsessed with how to strengthen your company culture.
Getting Started: Your Remote Team Cohesion Plan
Building great remote team cohesion isn’t always easy. We’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. But we’ve also seen what’s possible when you get it right.
The teams that master this combination don’t just survive as remote organizations — they thrive in ways that surprise even themselves. They move faster, make better decisions, and actually enjoy working together.
If you’re struggling with remote team cohesion, start small. Pick one thing from this guide to focus on, and implement it consistently for 90 days. See what happens. Then build from there. Remember, compounding can give you huge wins.
If we were you, here’s how we’d prioritize tools to try:
- Level 10 Meetings. We cannot overstate the value of having awesome meetings. Trust us on this one.
- Create shared goals/vision. In EOS, this is the V/TO, and it goes a long way to getting your team on the same page.
- Collaboration tool. Find a tool where you’re able to see what’s going on with people, including their projects, bigger goals, and metrics.
The Future of Remote Team Success
Here’s the truth: remote work isn’t going anywhere. The leaders who figure out how to make it work — really work — are going to have a massive competitive advantage. Your team is probably capable of more than you realize. You just need to give them the structure and tools to show you what they can do.
Remote team cohesion isn’t about having the perfect system from day one. It’s about building intentional practices that compound over time, creating connection and accountability that rivals any in-person team.
Ready to transform your remote team? The combination of a solid operating system and integrated tools isn’t just theory — it’s how the best distributed teams are winning every day. Start with one meeting format, add transparent metrics, and layer in an EOS software that works where your people already spend their time.
Get started with a free 30 day trial of Strety, or book a demo with our team to talk through the challenges of remote work and how we can help you solve them.
