Working with staff that are in a different physical location is hard. Remote can mean you and another coworker are in a different floor, office or city. Staying connected isn’t complicated, and it isn’t easy. As a leader, you will need to work with others that are remote and doing it effectively will make a big difference in your results.

My friend Sam shared with me a story that is simple and brilliant. He says a developer he was managing this last year told him he “...was the best manager he’d ever had. I asked him why. He said it was because I sent him a birthday card with a gift card for dinner.” First thing, Sam shows us not only that the best managers are seeking feedback. Isn’t it awesome that he asked why, and didn’t just get a big head that he was something special? And then he shows us that it isn’t that complicated to make a connection with someone that works remotely.

Sam’s observation is “I feel remote workers crave connection.” And the big insight from him is "It isn’t really that hard to get to know someone.” It takes the intention to connect. Take action to follow-up on your intention.

I distinctly recall an experience working with my colleague Cher who worked in a different office. I found that I wasn’t effectively building a relationship with her based on the frequency of conversations we had (once or twice a week). Her peers were in my same office, and it was easier for me to walk over to their desks than reach out to her.

I decided I needed to change my behavior. I prioritized picking up the phone every morning and saying “good morning” to her in order to remove the barrier that she might not want to bother me. I even told her explicitly “I’m doing this new thing, so I can do a better job staying in touch with you.” It resulted in a better and more effective working relationship.

My experience working on remote projects has armed me with some easy tips:

Let people know how to reach you (e-mail, phone, text, Skype, IM)
Learn how other people like to be reached (e-mail, phone, text, Skype, IM)
Proactively communicate what you have going on
Reach out to people via their preferred means and ask if they need help from you
Over communicate expectations (when you’ll get something done, when you won’t, when you're running late for a call, etc.)
For those people who are remote and enjoy people connections (see more below) reach out and say hello even if you don’t have an explicit reason

How do you know who enjoys people connections? Pay attention to some simple signs. In their e-mail, they will start with a salutation (“Hello Dan!”), they will ask how you are, they will sign-off with many ways for you to contact them. In meetings, they make small talk before leaping into the subject at-hand. In individual conversations, they they ask how you are, ask about your family, your weekend, etc. These people enjoy people connections and will love that you called to just say “hello”.