5 Mistakes in Managing Remote Teams: Webinar Recap

Remote work was supposed to be a revolution that would bring freedom and higher productivity to everyone. However, reality turned out to be a bit more complicated. According to the latest report by Grant Thornton, currently only 55% of medium and large companies in Poland allow working outside the office – a drastic drop compared to last year. What's more, as many as 44% of employers point to problems with information flow and communication as the main reason for these restrictions.

Does this mean remote work doesn't work? No. It means that as leaders, we are still making the same fundamental mistakes.

During our last webinar, LiveWebinar hosted Kosma Wilk – an experienced operations manager and creator of the popular podcast Na jednej fali (On the Same Wave). Kosma managed, among others, a 30-person marketing team scattered across the globe (from Poland and the Czech Republic to the Philippines and Nigeria). Based on his years of experience and mistakes made, he shared invaluable tips on how to heal internal communication within a company.

Here are the key takeaways from this meeting.

Mistake 1: Lack of Clear Cooperation Rules (i.e., Organizational Chaos)

Imagine this situation: it's 9:00 AM. A crucial 30-minute project meeting is scheduled. Part of the team is late, and so is the boss. At 9:05 AM, the leader writes that they are rescheduling the meeting to 9:15 AM. When everyone finally connects, casual small talk begins. At 9:25 AM, the boss suddenly realizes time is running out and chaotically tries to discuss the project. 9:30 AM hits – time is up, the most important topic has barely been touched, employees are late for their next meetings, and as a result, the boss schedules an "overtime session" at 12:00 PM.

Sounds familiar? Such a scenario leads to a massive waste of time and energy, which may be invisible at first glance but destroys team morale in the long run.

How to fix it?

Create "Cooperation Rules." The solution is not to introduce a rigid regime, but to develop the rules of the game together.

• Act together: Prepare an initial draft of the rules, but refine it together with the team during a meeting. When people have a say in creating the rules, they are much more willing to follow them.
• Take care of remote work culture: It is worth including simple tips in the rules – e.g., proper dress code or setting up a dedicated workspace at home.
• Lead by example: Remember that as a boss, you are under observation. If you are late for meetings yourself or break agreements, the team will immediately stop taking the rules seriously.

Mistake 2: Micromanagement and Forced Control

As managers (especially perfectionists!), we often fall into the trap of obsessive control. Are you checking whether Monika has a green status dot on the messenger at 8:00 AM? Do you calculate every single lateness for Dawid and control every stage of documentation creation? Stop. This is a dead end. The larger the team, the more difficult control becomes, until it eventually becomes physically impossible.

Your goal as a leader is completely different: you must build accountability in the employee for the long-term result, rather than for blindly executing individual tasks.

The Path to the Goal: 4 Stages of Delegating Tasks

To stop micromanaging, you need to change the way you delegate duties. Think about which stage you are at today:

• Stage 1 (Focus on a blind task): You assign a dry task without context. "Prepare a script for the episode on AI in accounting by Wednesday." The employee does it mechanically, not knowing why.
• Stage 2 (Focus on a task with a goal): You add intention. "Prepare the script... We want to reach chief financial officers in Germany and promote our new service." The employee begins to understand the context.
• Stage 3 (Quality focus): You introduce key performance indicators (KPIs). A great managerial trick is to ask the employee: "We want to measure the results of this video, please suggest how we can do it." You hand over a piece of the responsibility to them.
• Stage 4 (Focus on results and vision – The Ultimate Goal): You connect the small task with the company's big goal. "We aim to increase our market share in Germany from 2% to 4% by the end of the year. Your video is supposed to bring us closer to this, and the first two months show that this direction has huge potential."

When an employee sees the bigger picture, understands the company's strategy, and knows that their work genuinely brings the team closer to success, they suddenly stop needing a "whip" in the form of a boss checking their green dot on the chat. They take responsibility for the outcome themselves.

Mistake 3: An Avalanche of Purposeless Meetings (The "Status Update" Jungle)

Since we cannot see employees in the office, we instinctively try to fill that gap with hundreds of online meetings. Calendars start bursting at the seams. This creates an absurdity: we organize meetings to discuss work that we don't have time to actually complete... precisely because of the meetings. Especially painful are status updates without an agenda, where everyone takes turns talking about what they did over the past few days while the rest of the team discreetly browses the internet.

How to fix it?

• The "No agenda = no meeting" rule: Every meeting in the calendar must have a pre-defined goal and discussion points.
• Cut the time in half: Instead of the default 60 minutes, plan meetings for 20–30 minutes. You will see an incredible increase in speaking discipline.
• Shift to asynchronicity: Before you click "schedule meeting," ask yourself: "Could this meeting be a message on Slack?". If you just want to pass on information, record a short video (e.g., on Loom) – the team will watch it at their convenience.

Mistake 4: Reactivity Instead of Proactivity (The Boss as a "Firefighter")

Many remote managers operate purely in a fire-extinguishing mode. They only react when something explodes: a project is delayed, a client sends a complaint, or a key employee suddenly quits. Such a boss is reactive – their attention and calendar are driven by external chaos and constant messenger notifications. In remote work, where we don't see the team's minor frustrations in the hallway, problems grow in secret and explode with double the force.

How to fix it?

• Sacrosanct time (Deep Work): Block out, for example, 1.5 hours a day in your calendar for focused work. Turn off your phone and messengers during this time. Use this time for strategic thinking and eliminating problems before they even arise.
• A culture of delayed responses: Make it clear to the team that messengers are not meant for immediate replies. Replying to a message within 1–2 hours is completely fine. This will relieve you and your employees from the pressure of constantly shifting focus away from work.

Mistake 5: Ignoring the Employee (Lack of Feedback)

Working from home has one major downside – it can be terribly lonely. Managers often make the false assumption: "Since the employee is quiet and no one is reporting problems, everything must be working perfectly." In remote setups, "ignoring" rarely comes from a boss's malice – it's usually just a lack of regular contact. When an employee feels invisible, receives no feedback on their performance, and doesn't know if they are moving in the right direction, their engagement drops drastically. They become just an anonymous worker filling out rows in Excel and... start looking for a new job.

How to fix it?

• The sacred ritual of 1-on-1 meetings: Set up regular (e.g., every two weeks) 30-minute private conversations with each employee.
• This is not a project status update! During a 1-on-1, you don't talk about current tasks. Questions should focus on the human being: How do you feel in the team? What is blocking you the most right now? What do you need from me to work better?
• Praise publicly: A computer screen dampens emotions. Remote setups require a triple dose of appreciation. Notice the small successes of your employees and thank them loudly in front of the whole team.

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Summary

Communication in a distributed team is not easy and requires constant work. However, remember Kosma Wilk's two golden rules: one training session will change nothing (the process takes time) and everyone in the company is responsible for communication – from the intern to the CEO.

Instead of wasting energy on micromanagement, invest time in creating clear rules of the game and start showing your people the big picture (the company's vision). The result? More time in your calendar, independent employees, and higher productivity across the entire business.