Part of the "What I Learned Reading EmployersWeb.com the Magazine" series: Jim Bain of Focus on the 5 has written a very good
article about managing employees who may not necessarily be in the same office, city, or state as their managers. In today's world of electronics and mobility, many employees are answering to people they see face-to-face rarely, if ever. In reality, the challenges are no different than a typical office, the separation and distance just exacerbates them. So dealing with these problems should not be an entirely new experience, they just take a little more effort and above all, communication. Other things managers can do is to make an effort to see the remote employees that report to them at least once, spend a day in their shoes if possible, utilize technology to the fullest, and care about and appreciate the situation they are in and the unique challenges they deal with (This one is a two way street).
I like what Jim is saying here. The remote employee is becoming more and more common in America and other modern countries. At some point it became prevalent enough that people in this situation, be they the manager or the employee, started seeing it as something that could be addressed on the industry level, and not just on a situational basis. As a result, people like Jim are coming out with ideas and strategies that any manager can utilize. The point about technology is so important. With things like GoTo Meeting, video conferencing, mobile internet and smart phones, there's no reason a person cannot be successfully and productively utilized from a remote position. Like Jim says though, co-workers have to communicate and communicate well, and they need to care about the situation each other is in.