Making Agile teams work effectively has never been easy. To get the most out of Agile, teams must get used to being honest with themselves about the work they do, and come to terms with the limits and obstacles they face. Once a team has become comfortable with being uncomfortable, the real productivity promised by Agile can emerge. 

This is especially true for cross-border teams that have members from different international cultures. As the world has become more distributed and virtual, the barriers to making Agile work have become more numerous and difficult to overcome. We may all be able to work remotely now, but that doesn’t mean that all cultural differences have vanished.