By Chris Heivly, Managing Director at Build The Fort and Startup Community EIR @ Techstars

I've done remote work on and off for over 20 years. I enjoyed the ability to start work 5 minutes after my morning shower as well as the ability to turn on or off at a moment's notice. In every case, I had the power to dictate those terms, which made it easier. Virtual teams have advantages and challenges, and while people are adjusting, a key piece is still missing. 

Many companies treat remote work as a geography problem. In other words, they simplify their approach by operating with the same structure as in-office; the only difference being that you are each sitting in a different geography.

You organize or attend the same meetings, with the same org chart, the same hierarchical approval process, and just move it all to Zoom. Years ago, I learned and borrowed a line that drives me even today: innovation first replicates, then innovates. 

I think leaders of remote teams are missing a huge opportunity.

The aspect of remote work that is most missing is the classic water-cooler effect — a sociological phenomenon in which coworkers gather in shared spaces, like break rooms or around coffee machines, to have casual, spontaneous conversations. I can add that this is what I miss the most about innovation. I know that I am a better leader and a better innovator when I can “bump” into team members without an agenda.

Remote work requires a new mindset (it’s not networking) about how work actually happens when people are not bumping into each other in the hallway, grabbing lunch after a meeting, or overhearing the one sentence that changes the whole project. You do not get those little collisions for free anymore. You have to design for them.

The goal is not forced interaction. The goal is natural connections. Those are more difficult, and that is your challenge.

For today, let’s substitute the word connections for collisions.

In person, collisions happen naturally. Remote teams need to create the conditions for them without making them feel like homework. Think of it as building a virtual water cooler, but one people actually want to visit.

No forced topics. No “share one fun fact” energy. Let it breathe.

Create open spaces where people can talk about anything: kids, books, bad flights, AI tools, barbecue, fantasy football, gardening, weird customer stories, whatever. The topic almost does not matter. The point is that people have room for a “water cooler”—that part you can control by giving it time to evolve.

Games can absolutely work. A casual trivia room, a Wordle thread, a five-minute chess challenge, or a funny meme channel. The key is optionality. I recommend letting everyone set up their own topic/channel. Make the door easy to walk through and just as easy to walk past.

At our first virtual StaffCon at Techstars in 2020, we used a tool that created random connections for 15-minute sessions to meet another staff member. I loved it. 

Remote work is not about imitating the office online. It is about helping people do great work together when proximity is no longer doing the heavy lifting.

Answer that well, and remote work will no longer be a compromise.

It becomes an advantage.

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