Attracting top talent today requires offering workplace flexibility. Employees increasingly seek remote, hybrid, and flexible options to shape their ideal work environment. That's why building a strong team alignment strategy is key—one that maximizes the benefits of remote work while addressing its challenges.
Effectively managing remote teams gives your company an advantage when recruiting talent and creating a productive workplace. 58% of office workers want to work remotely at least three days a week, and 42% of workers said they would take a pay cut for it.
Remote work clearly has its perks: Employers save money on infrastructure costs and can access talent across the globe. Remote employees tend to be more productive and feel more in control of their time and work. However, it also has downsides, such as collaboration challenges and, for employees, feelings of loneliness.
Most remote work challenges stem from poor employee communication—the key to successful remote workplaces. What remote work tools and strategies should you use to facilitate remote team alignment, communication, and collaboration in your currently distributed employees or potential remote hires?
Learn the benefits of implementing remote work and how to tackle each drawback head-on for higher employee productivity and satisfaction, access to global talent, and overall cost savings.
Does remote work pay off long-term?
Opinions on remote work effectiveness vary by industry. For example, the technology sector continues to embrace the benefits of schedule flexibility and global hiring. In contrast, more traditional industries like retail may prioritize in-office workspaces and find it challenging to align teams across different locations and time zones.
But when it comes down to the foundation of common remote work challenges, the issues aren’t exclusive to fully remote teams. Hybrid and on-site workplaces still need to remedy employee loneliness, collaboration challenges, and diverse work styles.
While the rate for remote and hybrid work naturally decreased post-pandemic, U.S. American remote/hybrid knowledge workers still make up a significant portion of the workforce.
To succeed, improving communication and accommodating various time zones are key strategies for remote work. Teams equipped with project management tools like Airtable or Jira, live meeting platforms like Zoom, and asynchronous video messaging tools like Loom can more effectively share ideas, feedback, and recap meetings.
Ultimately, a robust tech stack provides the context and engagement teams need to work in a healthy, aligned workplace.
Pros of remote work and how to take advantage of them
This list of remote work advantages is by no means exhaustive, but it can help you envision your employees can thrive as a distributed team.
Schedule flexibility for work-life balance and employee satisfaction
Remote company culture involves different time zones and schedules. That’s why workplaces should facilitate distraction-free environments and set clear times for team engagement and meetings.
Giving employees more control over their workflow—such as when and how they complete tasks—and the freedom to work from wherever they choose, can boost positivity and morale across the team.
An employee might visit a coffee shop for inspiration during a brainstorming session, or work from home to focus on a complex project without distractions. Such flexibility is often unavailable in a traditional office environment.
Thanks to technologies like Loom for async video communication and project management tools for organizing workflows, remote workers can complete projects on a schedule that works for them.
For example, employees can use Loom videos to discuss project details, share feedback, or outline action steps—without the need to schedule a live video call. This is especially helpful when collaborating across different time zones and work hours.
Pairing video messaging with a project management tool like Monday.com can help your team track progress, allowing project managers and coworkers to visualize remote workflows and meet deadlines effectively.
Decreased costs for employers and employees
When it comes to remote work expenses, everyone wins. Employers don’t have to worry about large office spaces with a costly lease and utilities. Even if the company funds employee Wi-Fi bills and other WFH perks, it’s a small investment compared to the month-to-month cost of on-site infrastructure.
For full-time remote workers, eliminating commuting expenses like transportation saves both time and money. Flexible work schedules also allow employees more control over their personal lives. For instance, parents can more easily arrange daycare or school pickups, reducing childcare costs often inflated by long daily commutes.
Remote work encourages a lean, purposeful approach to budgeting. It’s worth asking, “What are the essential tools we need for a productive workplace?” This might mean replacing office luxuries like an espresso machine or extra printers with core productivity tools that better support distributed teams.
High levels of productivity
A healthy remote workplace includes clear roles, responsibilities, and action steps—where employees can build their schedules and work environments. They can meet sales goals, keep production schedules on track, or develop higher-quality code, especially with the right remote collaboration tools.
For example, with Loom video messaging, users can outline ongoing projects and feedback in a screen recording and pair it with project management tools to assign related roles and actionable tasks.
Team members can send a quick Loom video to present projects needing improvement or share ideas. Or, on a tool like Asana, staff can move a project forward in the pipeline and tag or assign a role for quick turnarounds.
Greater access to top talent
Remote work expands your talent pool beyond geographic limitations, allowing you to recruit from anywhere in the world. This opens up opportunities to find the highest-performing candidates, adding value to every department.
You can even attract employees who are rooted in their current city and exclusively seeking remote opportunities, giving you access to a competitive talent pool that wouldn’t be available otherwise.
Tools like Loom can enhance your talent pipeline and improve employee retention through streamlined remote onboarding. Your onboarding team can host training videos, provide secure employee logins, and create a seamless journey with targeted video messaging.
If a new hire has a question, they can ask directly on the Loom video page. Not only can you answer it right away, but future employees will also get that information from your engagement when they onboard and view the video. Loom videos offer an interactive and efficient remote onboarding strategy.
Cons of remote work and how to tackle them
Remote work isn’t immune to its challenges, but here are several practical strategies to help you minimize those challenges and create a productive, connected remote team.
Loneliness and zero face-to-face interaction
While Zoom calls, Slack messages, and emails can help bridge the communication gap, they can’t fully prevent the feelings of loneliness that arise from limited social interaction.
Some companies host yearly meetups in fun cities like Lisbon or New York, bringing teams together from around the world. But you don’t need to spend heavily on big trips to address loneliness. The key is understanding what face-to-face interactions provide: emotional connection, encouragement, and collaborative energy during brainstorming and project sessions.
While technology can’t fully replace in-person experiences, it can help fulfill the desire for connection. Asynchronous communication tools like Loom allow for intentional, meaningful interactions that help alleviate loneliness and build trust within the team.
For example, leaders can set up routine practices to foster team alignment and connection without needing live meetings. Team members can regularly share Loom videos with their daily “wins” or send words of encouragement to each other, creating a sense of support and engagement.
Loom helps tighten feedback loops and improve idea sharing. Employees don’t have to guess if their project meets expectations, even when teams are spread across the country. With Loom, teams can send feedback videos showing both their screen and webcam, keeping communication clear and reducing feelings of isolation.
Difficulty understanding coworker working styles and needs
Some people prefer working in a quiet, dim environment with no distractions, while others thrive with movement and background noise, like in a shared workspace or a bustling coffee shop.
Remote workers often operate in different energy cycles—some dive into deep, focused work, while others engage in back-to-back meetings. Those who value distraction-free workspaces may struggle when meetings interrupt their flow, while more social individuals might require multiple daily touchpoints, whether through meetings, voice memos, or video messaging.
If leaders don’t accommodate these diverse working styles, it can quickly affect morale and productivity. A high-performing workplace is built by supporting the unique strengths and styles of each team member, allowing them to perform at their best.
To accommodate different styles, you can adapt communication tools and schedules. For instance, Loom can reduce the need for live meetings by allowing employees to share recorded videos that others can watch at their convenience. For team members who need more meaningful connection in the workplace, you can schedule dedicated meeting days or time windows.
Clunky collaboration and communication experiences
Remote tools are essential for effective work, but too often teams choose the wrong ones. Unintuitive software with steep learning curves or inadequate features can frustrate teams and hinder productivity.
It’s worth exploring collaboration tools that offer good value while meeting your budget. Choose tools that integrate smoothly without redundancy, serving a specific purpose in your tech stack. These may include platforms for video communication, project management, team chats, brainstorming, and real-time document editing.
Your tech stack will ultimately determine the effectiveness of your remote work model. Whether your team is in design, engineering, sales, or marketing, you need the right tools to communicate, complete tasks, and incorporate feedback seamlessly.
Video messaging improves every aspect of remote work by creating a streamlined communication experience that provides more context and depth than text alone.
Implement Loom for a seamless remote work experience
Loom’s video messaging capabilities are the ideal solution for remote work teams who need to engage, provide feedback, and collaborate in every department—whether they work in sales, marketing, engineering, or design.
After you record your video with Loom and share it through a link, embed, or email, viewers can comment or send a video reply, maintaining engagement and alignment every step of the way.
Sharing your screen and webcam allows you to capture your tone of voice and contextual emphasis in addition to the topic at hand on your screen, so you can convey your intended feedback and ideas when live meetings aren’t possible or convenient. Barriers like different time zones, busy schedules, and diverse workflow styles no longer get in the way.
When you do have a meeting, you can send a Loom video beforehand to provide context and help your colleagues prepare, so you can jump into informed, actionable conversations. You can also send a recap Loom video after live meetings with a call to action that provides clear next steps and links to key resources that keep your projects moving forward.
Align your remote team and record your first Loom video today for free.