In the age of remote work, “connection” has evolved beyond being just a buzzword—it’s the foundation of successful distributed teams. As the CEO of DOXA® Talent, I lead over 800 team members across five countries—the Philippines, Vietnam, Colombia, Kenya, and the United States—and we do it all with zero office space. In the process, I’ve learned that true connection comes from intentionally creating moments that bridge both the digital divide and the cultural nuances that shape our interactions.
Many companies, especially in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, treat remote work as purely transactional. At DOXA, we’ve discovered something powerful: when organizations prioritize understanding different cultures, invest time in truly knowing their people, and create meaningful connections, they build something far more valuable—a loyal, engaged workforce that delivers exceptional results for clients worldwide.
Here’s how we’ve built a thriving culture that transcends boundaries:
Start with Intentional Moments
Every DOXA meeting begins with a question that goes beyond deadlines or deliverables. We ask about favorite childhood memories or dreams yet to be achieved, creating spaces for authentic sharing and connection. The approach has had such a positive impact for us that we created our own book of questions to help other companies build culture in this way.
These conversations serve a deeper purpose than simple small talk. When team members share stories about their local traditions or their most memorable experiences, they reveal insights into their culture, values, and perspectives. Through these moments of authenticity, we build the trust and understanding essential for high-performing teams.
Embrace Cultural Understanding
When it comes to building a global team, it takes a lot more than just hiring talented people from different countries. You need to understand how local culture shapes the way people work together. We constantly navigate nuanced questions: How should performance reviews adapt when some team members prefer direct feedback while others expect a more measured approach? What happens when decision-making styles clash between cultures that value group consensus and those that lean toward individual autonomy?
By investing time to understand how different regions approach collaboration and problem-solving, we create an environment where every team member feels understood and valued for who they are.
Foster Deep Connections
The BPO industry often struggles with high turnover and impersonal management. We’ve chosen a fundamentally different path. When organizing virtual team meetings across four time zones or facilitating collaboration between teams in Manila and Miami, we focus on building genuine relationships. If people feel more like they’re among friends than colleagues, they’re more likely to speak up and share ideas. This psychological safety that connection provides also gets the best results from each person.
Our experience shows that people who feel deeply connected to their team and company, stay longer, grow more, and deliver exceptional work. To help other organizations reach that same level of connection, we created the book “2000 Questions to Spark Connection: The Ultimate Guide for Remote Teams.” We are including a FREE mini-download of 100 questions to help teams build meaningful dialogue in remote environments, breaking through the invisible barriers that cultural and geographical boundaries often create.
Create Shared Experiences
Digital tools power our daily operations, but let me tell you what really works—shared experiences. At DOXA, we’ve developed simple but powerful activities that get people talking. We play “This or That” to spark debates about thought-provoking dilemmas, and “Guess Who” to uncover fun facts about team members. And yes, we celebrate diverse cultural holidays and tackle problems together across borders.
Start each meeting with these activities and you’ll see the difference—teams are more engaged and ready to tackle the real business at hand. It’s amazing how these moments break down the isolation of remote work and create something bigger than day-to-day tasks.
Measure What Matters
Sure, we track productivity and retention like everyone else—but that’s just scratching the surface. Our regular pulse surveys, one-on-ones, and team feedback sessions tell us what really matters: how connected our people feel. And I’ll tell you what we’ve discovered: —when our teams feel connected, they thrive. When they thrive, they take incredible care of our clients.
The results? Our retention rates blow past industry standards, and clients rave about both the quality of work and the relationships they build with our team members. And here’s what really matters is that —we’re turning what could be simple transactional relationships into true partnerships that last.
Looking to the Future
As work continues to evolve, the ability to build and maintain authentic connections across borders becomes increasingly crucial. The future isn’t just remote—it’s borderless. Success will flow to companies that can navigate the complexities of global interaction while creating cultures where people feel truly seen, valued, and connected, regardless of their physical location.
At DOXA, we’re proud to lead this transformation, demonstrating how global companies can achieve both high performance and deep human connection. Through our focus on authentic connections and cultural understanding, we’re reshaping not just how work gets done, but what it means to be part of a truly connected team.
