You may have 2-3 virtual teams in separate locations working remotely, each as a contained unit. That gives you the possibility to have stronger locally built teams, where all team members share a common time zone, location, similar cultural background, and values.
So, should those who prefer remote working from home commute to an office sometimes or travel for work to visit coworkers abroad?
Juan Pablo Molinari from Accenture Argentina shared that his team works with clients from North America and has a 1-2-hours difference with Argentina, which poses no challenges. But as for their coworkers in India, teams may sometimes have to work during nights over there. And if a task is communicated at 3 PM Argentina time, it may get delayed one day for the India team to produce that deliverable. Having solid planning in place may help tackle that challenge.
Juan Pablo also said that personal contact is necessary. He believes the best work mode is to have a gathering in the office about every 2 weeks, to have the idea exchange that you get when you are together.
A similar opinion is shared across other organizations, for instance, in The USPTO (the United States Patent and Trademark Office). In 2012 they
launched a work-from-anywhere program that fostered remote working jobs but demanded employees to physically arrive at headquarters at least once a week. That is considered to be a proven way to maximize a team's KPIs.