According to the research, teams working remotely were at a considerable disadvantage. At the bare minimum, teams needed to be together when launched, at the midpoint of their work and again at the end.
We hear the question 'Does Belbin work with remote teams?' on a regular basis, and of course, with home-working and the globalisation of work, this will become more common. When working with remote teams, we recommend that everyone has had the opportunity to meet at least once, face-to-face. Misunderstandings are commonplace when dealing with people via the phone or email, and having that ‘real’ connection helps provide context. ‘Social’ time via Skype can also work wonders.