I work in an org (not typical dev work) that has staff in several offices around my country. Almost all of my projects are run with team members or stakeholder

I work in an org (not typical dev work) that has staff in several offices around my country. Almost all of my projects are run with team members or stakeholders in different cities (and I actually think it works surprisingly well). However, downsides include: messenger clients/email are just inherently inefficient. Absolutely necessary, but inefficient. Being there in person will always be better for work that requires in depth discussion. The psychological conditioning of always staying alert for the next message (whether that be chat room, message, phone) is not conducive to sustain concentration and intellectual work. I try to keep to a pattern of two checks through the day, but this is not universally accepted through the workforce. Always on is not healthy. Time differences ug. Public holiday and cultural differences. I am no fan of micromanagement, but it can be hard to on-board new staff and team members. Sometimes junior staff do need supervision and handling, and that can be tough remotely. And while it's nice to live in fantasy world where everyone gets along, conflict is also harder remotely. When people "go rogue" that's tough. Also, if people are going off on the wrong track or there is a miscommunication, it's easier for it to stay hidden for longer. Lastly, its easier for changes and decisions to happen without your input when you're remote. Unless you're just working on a small team which naturally gets along and everyone agrees (and then you risk groupthink), authority structures do exist, and decisions get made where authority lies. Those with proximity to authority have an inherent advantage in getting their way. How does my org handle it? Well, we have budget/process for travel and a yearly off-site and offices in all key cities in the country. I hate travel for work, so that expenditure is safe on my end, but not all orgs/jobs are going to have all that as an option. Otherwise you just have to be aware of these issues and figure out a culture, tech, and protocols to deal with them.