When you work with someone in person, communication is often casual and layered. You can sense tone, pick up body language, have a quick side chat over coffee, or clarify something on the fly.
When you work remotely?
All of that disappears. And what you’re left with is the quality of your communication – written, verbal, and everything in between.
Which is why I’ll always say:
Open, safe communication isn’t just a nice-to-have in virtual working relationships. It’s the entire foundation.
So what does open, safe communication actually look like?
It’s not just having a Slack channel or a shared inbox. It’s how we use them.
It means:
- Feeling comfortable asking questions without being made to feel “silly”
- Being able to flag when something doesn’t feel right, without fear of backlash
- Knowing that feedback goes both ways (not just top-down)
- Having clear, consistent rhythms for checking in – not just waiting until something’s gone wrong
- Respecting each other’s working hours, capacity, and communication styles
- Being honest when something isn’t working, instead of quietly resenting it
This doesn’t require corporate-level communication strategies.
It requires human-level care.
Why it matters so much in virtual support roles
When you’re working with someone remotely – whether it’s a VEA, OBM, strategist, or any contractor – you’re placing a lot of trust in someone you might never sit in a room with. That trust has to be built with intention.
The best working relationships I’ve seen (and been part of) are ones where both people feel safe enough to:
- Speak up
- Ask for clarity
- Set boundaries
- Share ideas
- Admit mistakes, learn and move through it
- And celebrate wins, too
And the working relationships that collapse?
They usually weren’t undone by capability. They were undone by poor communication.
Silence, assumptions, and discomfort fester fast in a remote working environment.
What happens when communication is unsafe or inconsistent
- Team members go quiet – not because they’re disengaged, but because they’re unsure
- Boundaries get pushed, because they were never clearly discussed
- Issues build up behind the scenes, then explode suddenly
- Feedback is delivered too late, or not at all
- People leave – quietly, or abruptly
And the sad part is, most of it is avoidable.
If you want great support, create space for great communication.
This goes both ways – whether you’re the contractor or the client.
Ask people how they like to communicate.
Check in regularly – and don’t be afraid to get to know the person you’re working with.
Be clear about your preferences, and open to theirs.
Don’t wait until something breaks to talk about how things are going.
You don’t need a complicated framework. You need a little consistency, a little emotional intelligence, and a willingness to build real trust.
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