Starting a new remote-only team is never easy, especially across different time zones.

When everyone's in an office, it's easier to build rapport. You do small talk; you find out what people like and what they don't like.

But you have plenty of opportunities to go beyond the work tasks.

It's not the same when you are remote.

You don't want "let's have a remote beer" meetings when everything else is already a video call. People get meeting fatigue.

What can help is to organize a trip where everyone travels to a destination to work and hang out.

Seeing someone that you've known for a long time in person for the first time is a funny experience, but it helps immensely.

You go back to the familiar screen, but rapport is now better.

Yours,

Taj