The technology and culture solutions have existed and been evolving for 20 years. It really sounds like your experience with remote work is not representative.
I check in, and it ends up being story time about non-issues.
In person, its a 'hows it going?' and they say either 'good, still working' or 'stuck...'.
I would love if WFH was as effective. I could reduce my labor costs and probably have happier workers.
It's possible to build a high performing remote team, but it's not easy.
It's possible to drive results and create a culture of accountability without dragging people into the room with you just so you can interrupt their work in-person.