What Video Teams Can Learn from Rob Levin About Managing a Remote Workforce
Rob Levin is the co-founder of WorkBetterNow, a company that helps small and midsize businesses access remote talent. With more than 30 years of experience as an operator and advisor, he has worked across accounting, finance, operations, media, and entrepreneurship.
In his Authority Magazine interview, Levin focused on what makes geographically dispersed organizations work. His advice was not about remote-work software or keeping people visible on a screen. Instead, he emphasized culture, communication, access to a broader talent pool, hiring people suited to remote work, and making distributed employees full participants in the company.
Those ideas translate naturally to video production. Editors, producers, writers, coordinators, animators, and other specialists may work from different cities or countries while contributing to the same project. The challenge is keeping that distributed team connected to the same goals and production standards.
Build Remote Production Culture by Design
Levin’s first strategy is to build culture by design. At WorkBetterNow, that begins with a clear mission and defined core values that guide how people work and make decisions. He argues that deliberate culture becomes even more important when employees are geographically dispersed.
For video teams, culture should not depend on people learning by sitting next to one another. Make expectations visible. Establish how feedback is given, how problems are raised, how creative disagreements are handled, and what quality means before the project gets busy.
The same applies to production workflows. Remote contributors should know where briefs live, follow a consistent file naming convention, know which version is current, and understand who makes the final call. A distributed crew works more smoothly when everyone understands not only the task, but how the team approaches the work.
Use Remote Work to Expand the Production Talent Pool
Levin sees geography as one of remote work’s biggest opportunities. Distributed companies can recruit beyond one local market, and he says WorkBetterNow’s remote model gave the company access to a much broader talent pool.
Video production can benefit from the same approach. The best person for a project may not live near the client or production office. A specialized editor, motion designer, researcher, writer, or post-production specialist can contribute from another location when a clear remote production workflow supports the collaboration.
That changes hiring from “Who is nearby?” to “Who is right for this work?” Geography still matters for physical production, but many creative and operational roles can be selected for fit and skill rather than proximity.
Overcommunicate When the Team Is Distributed
Levin’s third strategy is simple: overcommunicate. Remote employees miss the informal conversations that happen naturally in an office, so leaders have to communicate more deliberately. He gives a straightforward example: sharing notes and decisions after a Zoom call can prevent confusion and keep people aligned.
Video projects benefit from the same discipline. A creative decision made during a call should not disappear when the meeting ends. Record approvals, changes, deadlines, and responsibilities in the project system so the editor in one location and the producer in another are working from the same information.
Review notes should also be specific. Attach comments to timecodes, identify which version is being reviewed, and document final decisions. Remote communication does not need to mean constant communication. It needs to mean that important information reaches everyone who needs it.
Hire People Who Can Thrive in Remote Production
Levin cautions that remote work is not the right environment for everyone. During interviews, he recommends asking candidates about their previous remote and in-office roles, what they liked and disliked, and how they stayed productive, connected, and accountable.
For production companies, technical ability is only one part of remote fit. A skilled editor who rarely surfaces questions can still create delays. A producer working across time zones needs to communicate clearly and recognize when something requires immediate attention.
Ask candidates how they have handled remote feedback, shifting deadlines, independent work, and collaboration with people they do not see in person. The goal is to find someone who can perform the craft while also operating effectively inside a distributed team.
Fully Integrate Remote Team Members
Levin is also clear that remote employees should not become an adjacent workforce. If they belong in a meeting, they should participate and have the same opportunity to contribute as people who are physically present.
That principle matters in video production because remote contributors are often brought in too late. An editor may receive footage after every creative decision has already been made. A writer may receive a brief without hearing the client explain what matters most.
When their role affects the creative outcome, bring remote contributors into the process early enough for their expertise to matter. Include the editor in a relevant creative review. Give the remote producer access to the same production notes. Treat specialists as members of the production team, not simply as the final step in a handoff.
Use a Consistent Operating System
Levin says the tools themselves are less important than having a consistent operating system. WorkBetterNow uses EOS, which gives the company a defined meeting cadence, common formats, accountability, and alignment. He sees that structure as especially valuable for remote companies.
Video teams can apply the principle without copying a specific business system. Use a consistent kickoff format, review process, approval path, naming convention, and status update structure across projects.
Predictability reduces the amount of energy spent figuring out how each project works. Contributors can focus on the creative and technical work because the surrounding production process is familiar.
Levin also notes that remote work does not mean everything should remain remote. WorkBetterNow’s leadership still meets in person for certain strategic discussions and team bonding because some conversations benefit from sharing a room.
For production teams, the same judgment applies. Use distributed workflows where they make sense, but recognize when a kickoff, major creative review, or complex production problem deserves real-time discussion.
Applying These Lessons to Video Production
A distributed production team works best when the structure is established before the first deliverable moves.
Start by defining how the team communicates and where decisions are recorded. Bring in specialists based on the skills the project actually needs, regardless of geography when the role allows it. Make remote contributors part of relevant creative discussions rather than handing them decisions after the fact.
Keep review stages consistent. Give every contributor access to the latest brief, notes, deadlines, and approvals. When a project spans multiple locations, the goal is not to recreate an office online. It is to make sure everyone can do strong work without missing the context they would have picked up naturally in the same room.
Team Beverly Boy’s Takeaway
What stands out in Levin’s approach is that remote work does not succeed simply because a team has cloud software and video calls. Culture, communication, hiring, and integration still have to be designed intentionally.
For video teams, remote production creates access to a much wider range of talent. The responsibility is making sure those contributors understand the same goals, receive the same important information, and have a real place in the production process.
When that structure is clear, geography becomes less of a barrier to collaboration.
Conclusion
Rob Levin’s interview offers a practical framework for distributed teams: build culture intentionally, widen the talent pool, communicate deliberately, hire people who can succeed remotely, and fully integrate them into the organization.
For video production, those principles make it possible to work with specialized talent across locations without fragmenting the creative process. Remote work is most useful when geography expands the team without weakening the connection between the people doing the work.
This article is based on an interview originally published by Authority Magazine. Read the full interview here.
