

Making Long-Distance Partnerships Work - savrajsingh
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/business/smallbusiness/24sbiz.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

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maw
'“You rely on e-mail, cannot do a lot of talking and the subtleties can get
lost. So you do miss things.”'

Having worked remotely for nearly four years, I've concluded that the problem
lies with people who are bad at communicating -- at least, bad at
communicating in certain circumstances.

Simplifying a bit: Some people are wired such that they can only communicate
well face to face. Others only communicate well in writing. Some people are
lucky and can do both effectively. (People who work with those people should
also count themselves lucky.) And, of course, some people are bad at
communicating under any circumstances.

There are also some cases where distantly-located colleagues are cold and
unhelpful until you meet them in person, go out for some beers, etc., but I'm
pretty sure that's orthogonal.

