Read the A Distributed Workforce Toolkit for the Long Haul guide to learn how to keep remote team members in step with one another.

Even when you succeed in creating a collaborative culture, you’ll inevitably encounter instances of in-house rivalry and disagreement. In the face of those challenges, it’s essential to build consensus and keep the team cohesive and on course. So how can you keep everyone on the same page?

• Make facetime a key component. Periodic in-person gatherings can help, and those should include a mix of business and social activities. Give your team members a chance to feel personally connected to one another.

• Monitor team communication on various platforms. Comments made via email can convey unintended attitudes or biases that sow mistrust or defensiveness. Look for the communication platforms your team members can use most productively.

• Manage group dynamics in virtual meetings. Make sure all participants understand the meeting objective. Then, as group leader, keep everyone focused on that objective so that distractions don’t derail the conversation.

All employees need a team-oriented culture supported by the collaboration, communication, and project management tools and technologies required to do their best work. When leading a distributed workforce, those needs come into sharper focus. By providing remote employees with adequate and appropriate support, you create the conditions necessary for your distributed workforce—and your business—to thrive.