Amelia Walter-Dzikowska's personal experience: communication with a French project manager had been persistently difficult — she and her QA team thought the PM was hard to work with or culturally different. A few days of in-person meetings in Paris produced a breakthrough: the cooperation improved dramatically and the effect lasted. No single factor was identifiable — eye contact, coffee together, many small things combined. Lesson: even fans of remote work should budget for periodic business trips to meet their international teams.