Coaching Across Borders: Building Trust and Collaboration in Remote Teams

One important and meaningful part of my role as a lead is coaching my team — both in our 1:1s and as a group in our team Slack channel. My team members live in different countries, speak different languages, and come from diverse cultural backgrounds — including places like Pakistan, Venezuela, and many others in between. I know they may never meet in person, so the question becomes: How do I help them build trust in each other — and in me?

I often see my work like that of an ant slowly building a colony — one step at a time. It can feel slow at first, but eventually, magic happens: they start helping each other, and even coaching themselves. Witnessing this shift is deeply rewarding.

Recently, both the individual and collective aspects of my coaching came together. In a few 1:1s, we discussed topics that I felt were worth bringing into the team space. For instance, many of them were ending emails with the same predefined response — something that felt disengaged and often went unnoticed by users.

So I encouraged them to share what we had discussed in the channel, and they began working together to rewrite their closing messages. I only stepped in now and then — asking questions to nudge the conversation forward and help them reflect more deeply. Eventually, I posed a challenge: skip the predefs entirely, and instead ask each client a specific, personal question based on their issue. The goal? Spark more engagement and encourage thoughtful replies.

Was this plan fully formed in my mind from the beginning? Not at all. Did I know what the end result would be when I suggested sharing it with the group? Also no. But that’s the beauty of coaching. The outcome is shaped by the participants — not the coach.

In coaching, we often say the answers lie within the client. Our job is simply to help them uncover it. My role is to open that door — and it’s always an honour to watch what comes through.