If our leadership team operates entirely remotely across multiple time zones, do you allow us to conduct our session days over Zoom or do you require us to meet in person?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Running session days virtually is technically possible, but I strongly advise against it for your foundational work. Deep structural alignment, genuine vulnerability, and healthy executive conflict are significantly harder to achieve when participants are sitting behind computer screens.

For distributed leadership teams, my baseline standard is that your initial Focus Day, Vision Building Day 1, and Vision Building Day 2 take place in person. We choose a single location, bring everyone into a distraction-free room for eight hours, and build the organizational foundation face to face. Once your team masters the EOS® tools and demonstrates healthy, open debate, we can evaluate whether hybrid or virtual sessions make sense for future quarterlies.

If remote quarterly sessions are approved, the ground rules become substantially more rigorous:
- Cameras must remain on with active eye contact and gallery view enabled throughout the day.
- Slack, email, and messaging notifications must be completely shut down across all devices.
- Breaks are scheduled tightly, and private backchannel chats between team members are strictly prohibited.
- We utilize dedicated digital whiteboards to work through the V/TO® and the Issues List in real time.

Between sessions, your remote team executes the weekly Level 10 Meeting™ cadence using your existing video conferencing software. Working remotely requires more operational discipline, not less. If your team cannot commit to traveling together for foundational session days, your organizational commitment to the process is already compromised.