How Sam Really Failed on a Remote Team

I am sure this has happened to you at least once. You are trying to solve a problem at work and need help from a colleague. So you send off a quick chat message. No answer. You follow up with an email. Still nothing. Hello? Is anyone out there?

This used to happen to me all the time. And that MIA co-worker was a guy named Sam. (I changed his name here to protect his identity.)

Absent co-workers are frustrating in any workplace. But for remote teams, this kind of “Where did Sam go?” situatio...