Leading People Remotely: How to Make it Right

Renita, tell us a bit about yourself, about your journey so far and your current mission!

Hi, I’m Renita, a global talent and employer branding leader with over 20 years of experience across Europe, Asia, the US, as well as projects and collaborations in Australia, Africa, and Latin America. I’ve led international recruitment teams in high-growth t

ech companies like Babbel, Testlio, and HRS Group, and helped shape hiring and culture strategies across 40+ countries.

My journey has always been driven by curiosity, about people, work, and how we build meaningful connections in a global, remote-first world. Over the years, I’ve also co-founded HR communities like Recruitment Thursday and Cohorts, spoken at international conferences, and served as a jury member for various employer branding awards.

Right now, I’m on a purposeful career pause: recharging, reflecting, and exploring what’s next. I’m passionate about remote leadership, inclusion, and helping organisations become more intentional about how they hire and lead.

And I’m location-free, living with one suitcase, working from different cities, and collecting stories along the way. Currently writing this from Berlin, but ask me next week, and it might be Lisbon or Barcelona.

My mission? To support companies and leaders in building trust-based, inclusive, and flexible workplaces, the kind where people don’t just stay, but actually thrive.

What is your experience with remote work and distributed teams? 

I've been working remotely since the COVID era. Back then, while leading Babbel’s recruitment team, going remote wasn’t really our choice, it was a necessity. But for my next step, I made an intentional decision to join a fully remote, distributed-by-design company with teammates across 40+ countries. That’s where I built my first remote team from scratch and managed to foster strong, trust-based connections, even with some team members I never met in person.

My next chapter continued in the same spirit: fully remote, spread across time zones and continents. I’ve led teams with members in the US, Vietnam, India, and across Europe, and worked with stakeholders scattered all over the world.

For the past three years, I’ve also been location free, living out of a 23kg suitcase and traveling the globe. Sometimes I stay two weeks, sometimes a few months or longer. Most of my time recently has been spent in Spain and Portugal, but also Athens, Tallinn, Ho Chi Minh City, and right now I’m writing this from Berlin, Germany.

Can you help us to understand a bit better what is actually “remote work / distributed team set up” and what it´s not?  

Remote work or a distributed team setup means that people don’t all work from the same physical office. Instead, they are spread across different cities, countries, or even continents. A truly distributed setup is built with that in mind. The tools, workflows, and communication habits are designed to support people working from anywhere.

What it is not:

• It is not just “working from home” occasionally or during a crisis

• It is not trying to copy office habits into Zoom and Slack

• It is not everyone being expected to be online at the same time, regardless of their time zone

• And it is not just about location, it is also about mindset, structure, and trust

In well-functioning distributed teams, the focus is on clear communication, asynchronous workflows, outcomes over hours, and creating intentional moments for connection. The hallway chats and casual catch-ups do not happen by default, so they need to be designed on purpose. It takes structure and discipline to make it work well, but when done right, it can be inclusive, flexible, and highly productive.

Which trends do you observe currently in the market and how do they impact the teams and individuals?  

• The great office return (or the illusion of it).

Many big tech companies are pulling people back to the office, claiming remote work “doesn’t work.” But let’s be honest, in most cases, it is not about productivity. It is about control, visibility, and preserving old habits, often driven by lazy leadership that never fully adapted to leading remotely.

This shift is creating friction. Teams that have learned to thrive remotely feel penalized, and individuals are rethinking where and how they want to work.

The long-term winners will be the companies that offer clarity instead of chaos, and flexibility with purpose instead of fear.

• Remote work is no longer a benefit, it is a strategy.

Remote work is not just about flexibility anymore. It is a way to win global talent, build more diverse teams, and create scalable operations.

Companies that embrace remote by design are better positioned to attract top talent regardless of location.

For teams, this means adapting to cross-cultural communication, async collaboration, and new ways of building connection. For individuals, it means stronger communication skills, more self-management, and often a higher level of digital literacy.

• Culture needs more intention and cultural intelligence.

Without the office as the default connector, companies need to be much more intentional about building and maintaining culture. Onboarding, rituals, recognition, and informal connection moments are no longer nice to have. They are essential.

In globally distributed teams, cultural intelligence is a critical leadership skill. What builds trust or signals respect in one culture may not translate in another.

Leaders need proper training and support to navigate cultural differences and lead with empathy and clarity. When done well, this creates strong, connected teams across time zones and backgrounds. When ignored, it often leads to disengagement, confusion, and misalignment.

• Well-being is under pressure in remote environments.

In remote setups, the lines between work and life often blur. In my experience, remote teams tend to work more, not less. Without clear boundaries, availability can stretch into evenings, weekends, and personal time, which leads to overload and burnout.

Many companies still underestimate how exhausting an "always on" culture can be in a distributed setting.

The best teams I have seen put structure around well-being. They normalise breaks, protect focus time, and support rest without guilt. Leaders play a key role by setting the tone, encouraging healthy habits, and creating a culture where people feel safe to unplug.

Remote work offers flexibility, but it only works long term when well-being is protected intentionally.

What do you think the organisations should be doing differently when it comes to remote work and the policies around it?  

In my experience, first, stop treating remote work like a perk or a temporary fix. It is a way of working that requires a different mindset, not just a Zoom license and a laptop.

Here’s what needs to change:

• Design remote work intentionally

Many companies just copy office habits into online tools. That does not work. Remote requires rethinking how you communicate, collaborate, and make decisions. Start with async work principles, clear documentation, and fewer, better meetings.

• Train your leaders

Leading remotely is a skill, not a personality trait. Managers need support to build trust, lead across time zones, give feedback, and support performance without micromanaging.

• Build policies that support autonomy, not surveillance

Instead of tracking activity or screen time, focus on outcomes and clarity. People need trust, not digital babysitting. Give them clear goals, and let them decide how and when they work best.

• Prioritise connection and culture

In remote settings, culture does not happen by accident. Companies need to invest in rituals, onboarding, shared values, and informal connection moments. This includes cross-cultural understanding and psychological safety.

• Protect well-being with structure

Encourage healthy boundaries, protect focus time, and lead by example. Policies should reflect that rest and recovery are part of high performance, not the opposite of it.

What are the biggest challenges you face, as a people leader, when it comes to leading teams and individuals remotely? 

For me, one of the most challenging parts of remote leadership is balancing flexibility with clarity. Remote work gives people freedom, which is one of its biggest benefits. But without structure, that freedom can quickly turn into confusion. I’ve learned that it is not enough to trust people to figure things out, we need clear expectations, shared agreements, and alignment on how success is measured. Finding that balance takes ongoing effort. What works for one person might not work for another, so it is a constant process of listening, adjusting, and making sure no one is left in the dark. 

How can organisations enable their leaders to lead remotely?   

Remote leadership is not something that just happens naturally. Being a great in-office manager does not automatically translate into leading well remotely. Organisations need to treat remote leadership as a skill that requires training and support. This includes building trust from a distance, giving clear feedback, managing performance without micromanaging, and knowing how to use digital tools for async collaboration and transparent communication.

It is also essential to provide clear frameworks for autonomy, psychological safety, and outcome-based work. Cultural intelligence matters too, especially in globally distributed teams where different norms and communication styles come into play. Leaders need support navigating those differences and fostering inclusion intentionally.

Most importantly, senior leaders must model these behaviours. Remote leadership needs to be built into company culture by design, not left to chance.

What role plays the organisational culture in this context? 

Organisational culture plays a critical role in remote work. Without the daily office environment, culture does not happen by accident, it has to be built on purpose. Clear values, trust-based leadership, inclusive communication, and shared rituals create the glue that holds distributed teams together. If culture is weak or inconsistent, remote teams quickly feel disconnected and disengaged.

What are the most important things that you learned about leading people and teams remotely?

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that trust is everything. You don’t see people working, so you need to trust their output and intentions and they need to trust your leadership. I’ve also learned that clarity beats control. In remote teams, clear goals, roles, and ways of working matter more than ever. Just as important is being intentional about relationships. Connection doesn’t happen by chance. You have to create space to build trust and keep nurturing those relationships over time.

And finally, cultural intelligence really matters. In global teams, people bring different communication styles, expectations, and ways of giving feedback. As a leader, you need to make sure every voice is heard and valued, regardless of background or location. Inclusion doesn’t happen automatically, you have to lead for it on purpose.

What are your top 3 tips to anyone who is (...or about to start) leading distributed teams remotely?  

• Don’t guess, align early and often

Be crystal clear about goals, roles, and how your team works together. Misalignment happens fast in remote setups, so overcommunicate the important things and document key decisions.

• Lead with trust, not control

Remote leadership is not about watching people work, it’s about setting direction and trusting your team to get there. Focus on outcomes, not hours. Micromanagement kills motivation.

• Be intentional about connection and inclusion

Relationships need time and care. Create space for human moments, celebrate small wins, and make sure everyone feels heard, especially across cultures and time zones. Inclusion won´t happen by itself, so lead with cultural intelligence and empathy. The original post was published on the HRnuggets.io blog.