Marie ChristianAVP, Actuarial Global Casualty—Foreign| ChubbPhiladelphia, United States
Hi All,
I value your expertise in project management and would love your insights into emerging trends in my research on remote/hybrid work. Have you noticed any techniques or approaches that consistently succeed or fall short in remote projects?
While the pandemic has accelerated these work models, and digital tools and flexible policies have helped, do challenges such as communication gaps and burnout persist? What’s been working in your projects, and what hasn’t?
Cheers,
Marie
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Amari ZivaiSales Representative| Total Life ChangesMichigan, United States
Hello Marie, Clear expectations, structured communication, and strong accountability consistently strengthen remote project performance because they reduce uncertainty and create a shared rhythm for distributed teams. When teams know what success looks like, how information will flow, and who owns which outcomes, coordination becomes smoother and risks surface earlier.
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1 reply by Marie Christian
Mar 08, 2026 11:38 AM
Marie Christian
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Hi Amari- Thanks for your quick response.
I was also wondering how you would address situations where a remote team member is falling behind on deliverables, and if you were starting a new project with a fully remote team tomorrow, what would you implement on day 1?
Cheers, Marie
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Marie ChristianAVP, Actuarial Global Casualty—Foreign| ChubbPhiladelphia, United States
Mar 07, 2026 10:02 PM
Replying to Amari Zivai
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Hello Marie, Clear expectations, structured communication, and strong accountability consistently strengthen remote project performance because they reduce uncertainty and create a shared rhythm for distributed teams. When teams know what success looks like, how information will flow, and who owns which outcomes, coordination becomes smoother and risks surface earlier.
Hi Amari- Thanks for your quick response.
I was also wondering how you would address situations where a remote team member is falling behind on deliverables, and if you were starting a new project with a fully remote team tomorrow, what would you implement on day 1?
Cheers, Marie Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
I am working with highly distribute virtual teams around the world from 1997. Nothing new below the sun. Its the same when you work in the same organization, in the same country but in different locations inside the country. Portfolio/Program/Project Manger accountability is to facilitate all people that belongs to the team to do the necessary work to achieve the objectives. Again, nothing new below the sun.
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1 reply by Marie Christian
Mar 08, 2026 8:14 PM
Marie Christian
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Hi Sergio,
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It’s interesting to hear from someone who has such long-standing experience working with distributed teams before remote work became mainstream. I agree that many of the core responsibilities of portfolio, program, and project managers remain consistent: facilitating collaboration, aligning the team around objectives, and removing barriers so the work can get done.
In my company, the phrase "nothing new under the sun" rings true, but in a disheartening way. After the pandemic, leadership strongly pushed for a return to the office and largely stepped away from remote work, which was frustrating for those of us who value flexible, distributed teams.
Your experience highlights that while the environment may change, the fundamentals of good project management remain largely the same. What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced managing distributed teams, and how have you addressed them?
Cheers, Marie
Saving Changes...
Marie ChristianAVP, Actuarial Global Casualty—Foreign| ChubbPhiladelphia, United States
Mar 08, 2026 4:40 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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I am working with highly distribute virtual teams around the world from 1997. Nothing new below the sun. Its the same when you work in the same organization, in the same country but in different locations inside the country. Portfolio/Program/Project Manger accountability is to facilitate all people that belongs to the team to do the necessary work to achieve the objectives. Again, nothing new below the sun.
Hi Sergio,
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It’s interesting to hear from someone who has such long-standing experience working with distributed teams before remote work became mainstream. I agree that many of the core responsibilities of portfolio, program, and project managers remain consistent: facilitating collaboration, aligning the team around objectives, and removing barriers so the work can get done.
In my company, the phrase "nothing new under the sun" rings true, but in a disheartening way. After the pandemic, leadership strongly pushed for a return to the office and largely stepped away from remote work, which was frustrating for those of us who value flexible, distributed teams.
Your experience highlights that while the environment may change, the fundamentals of good project management remain largely the same. What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced managing distributed teams, and how have you addressed them?
Cheers, Marie Saving Changes...
Meggan WitteProject Manager / IT Operations P2| Leggett & Platt, Inc.Peculiar, Missouri, United States
Hi Marie! My team is distributed as well—some are in another part of the state, and others I see regularly since we follow a hybrid schedule. A few of us work together in the local office a couple of days a week, and the rest stay fully remote. My approach is similar to what Amari shared. We stay connected through daily coordination meetings, a weekly team meeting, and our regular grooming and planning sessions. I set clear expectations early on, and I’m big on consistent communication. Our ADO Kanban board is our main source of truth. We use it not just to visualize the flow of work, but as a communication tool. All discussions outside of meetings happen directly on user stories, tasks, features, and even in PRs. I also use dashboards as information radiators so the team can see progress at a glance—and they know I keep an eye on the dashboards to make sure work is moving. On top of that, we stay connected through Microsoft Teams. I’ve set up team channels for group collaboration and individual chats for one‑on‑one support. Everyone understands our Agile process, and I reinforce it regularly. My team really enjoys the hybrid schedule. They’d love to be fully remote, of course, but they also know that staying hybrid means showing their work, meeting goals, and delivering consistently. The constant communication and shared visibility into the work are what make our hybrid setup successful. Saving Changes...
One thing I’ve learned managing distributed teams is that remote environments remove many of the informal coordination signals that exist naturally in co-located teams.
In an office, alignment often happens in small ways — quick hallway conversations, overhearing a discussion, or clarifying something in passing. Remote teams lose most of those signals, which means coordination has to become much more intentional.
A few practices that have consistently helped in my experience:
1. Establish a predictable communication rhythm.
Distributed teams benefit from a clear cadence — not just standups, but regular checkpoints where priorities, risks, and dependencies surface early. A stable rhythm reduces uncertainty and helps teams stay aligned even when people are working across locations and time zones.
2. Make work and decisions visible.
In remote environments, visibility replaces proximity. Shared boards, dashboards, and documented decisions become essential because they allow people to understand context and see progress without relying on ad hoc conversations.
3. Clarify ownership and decision paths early.
Ambiguity tends to persist longer in distributed teams because people hesitate to interrupt others or escalate quickly. Being explicit about who owns what, and how decisions are made, prevents small issues from quietly compounding.
4. Create space for informal connection.
Remote teams can coordinate effectively but still struggle with trust and rapport. Lightweight opportunities for informal interaction — even brief optional check-ins — often make collaboration smoother when real delivery pressure appears.
One interesting observation is that remote teams sometimes become more disciplined in how they operate, precisely because they cannot rely on informal coordination. When the communication rhythm, visibility into work, and decision paths are clear, distributed teams can actually become very resilient.
I’d be curious whether others have seen something similar — that remote teams often succeed not because the tools are better, but because the operating rhythm becomes more intentional. Saving Changes...
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Clear communication rhythms and visible work tracking tend to work best in remote projects. Short check-ins, shared dashboards, and written summaries help maintain alignment across locations.|
What usually fails is assuming tools alone solve coordination. Without intentional communication and trust-building, gaps and burnout still appear even in well-tooled environments. Saving Changes...
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