'“You rely on e-mail, cannot do a lot of talking and the subtleties can get lost. So you do miss things.”' Having worked remotely for nearly four years, I've c

'“You rely on e-mail, cannot do a lot of talking and the subtleties can get lost. So you do miss things.”' Having worked remotely for nearly four years, I've concluded that the problem lies with people who are bad at communicating -- at least, bad at communicating in certain circumstances. Simplifying a bit: Some people are wired such that they can only communicate well face to face. Others only communicate well in writing. Some people are lucky and can do both effectively. (People who work with those people should also count themselves lucky.) And, of course, some people are bad at communicating under any circumstances. There are also some cases where distantly-located colleagues are cold and unhelpful until you meet them in person, go out for some beers, etc., but I'm pretty sure that's orthogonal.