According to our study of more than 600 people, distance in the workplace does more harm

than good. The research shows that 13 out of 14 common workplace relationship problems occur far more frequently within “virtual teams” (teams with members scattered across various geographies) than within teams located in the same building. In addition, problems with remote colleagues are significantly more difficult to solve and last longer than with on-site colleagues.

What’s worse, the most common means of coping with the effects of distance are not only destructive to working relationships, they are also destructive to overall productivity. When people face challenges with a colleague who works in a different location, they either resort to silence or other passive coping strategies, or they become “verbally violent” or attacking toward their colleague. When resorting to silence, common strategies include screening phone calls from remote colleagues, not returning their calls and e-mails, leaving them out of the loop on important decisions, or avoiding working with them altogether.

The research shows that the solution isn’t co-location—it’s communication. The key is for leaders of virtual teams to invest in the skills required to raise emotionally and politically risky issues with virtual teammates in a candid but respectful way.

An innovator in corporate training and leadership development, VitalSmarts combines three decades of original research with 50 years of the best social science thinking to help leaders and organizations change human behavior and achieve new levels of performance. VitalSmarts has identified four high-leverage skill sets that, when used in combination, create healthy corporate cultures. These skills are taught in the Company’s award-winning training programs and New York Times bestselling books of the same titles: Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Influencer, and Change Anything. VitalSmarts has consulted with more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies and trained more than one million people worldwide. www.vitalsmarts.com

Long-distance Loathing V I TA L S M A R T S R E S E A R C H

KEY RESULTS

13 out of 14 common workplace problems occur more frequently with “virtual teams” than within teams located in the same building

Problems with remote colleagues are significantly more difficult to solve and last longer than with on-site colleagues

Common methods of coping with the effects of distance are destructive to working relationships and to overall productivity

TIPS for IMPROVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH REMOTE COLLEAGUES

• Talk before problems start. Invest significant time talking about how you’ll work together and establish ground rules for airing future concerns.

• Praise early wins. Take time early on to acknowledge small successes and go the extra mile to praise people publicly.

• Never raise individual concerns publicly. In long-distance crucial conversations you’re visually impaired (you can’t read body language) and the other person is hearing impaired (they easily hear villainy in your complaints). When bringing up concerns with a colleague, always do so one-to-one.

• Start by clarifying what you DON’T want to say. Always begin by pointing out any possible misinterpretations of what you want to discuss.

• Gain allies before raising problems with a group. If you need to raise a crucial issue with a group, vet your concerns with remote teammates one-to-one beforehand. Then ask for their help when you raise the issue—not by taking your “side” but by candidly raising their opinions so the dialogue can be productive.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH. The study collected responses via an online survey of 608 individuals in March of 2009. Margin of error is approximately 3%.

LEARN NEW SKILLS. To learn how Crucial Conversations® Training can help you improve relationships with remote colleagues visit www.vitalsmarts.com or call 1.800.449.5989.