How Deutsche Telekom is creating real connection virtually for its remote workforce

“People are more individually productive,” he said, “but this notion of connections, people building their relationship networks, is much easier to do when folks are physically together because of the spontaneous interactions you have, which you’re deprived of when you’re remote.”

Deutsche Telekom has encountered this challenge in their customer sales and service unit, which is comprised of 30,000 people, with 90% located in Germany, Hammel said. From centralized units for mobile telephony, fixed lines, the help desk, and so forth, they started reorganizing into 14 cross-functional regional cells.