To build strong relationships, you have to listen. This is where the whole notion of empathy comes into play.

Being dictatorial will only cause resentment, backlash, and conflict, which will only succeed in derailing product development and the overall vision. I always found the best thing to do was to have meetings with your engineering team where they are running the show, and where they can highlight their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. Once you have that, you can move forward with other departments, as well as your personal ideas.

No one wants to feel marginalized, and engineers will be crucial for hitting targets. So make sure you hear them out on their own, and then proceed to loop in other necessary parties.

Hey Mark. This is great question. It's been 6 months now since I started working remotely. Being an extrovert I had difficulties or lacked enthusiasm to work at times when I'm all alone at home working . I compensated it by attending networking events during the weekend. Made a possible good amount of connections. Helped me connect with the professional world. I'm sure this might help others too.

I'm interested to be part of social slack channels and other such social video chats. Let me know how I can join them.