Overview

This chapter covers the general management skills that anyone managing remote workers will need if they are to promote a successful outcome. Of course, many of these skills will be the same as for managing staff in a conventional organization and no apology is made for covering what may be familiar ground here. However, the authors have focused on aspects that relate specifically to remote workers, and case notes and quotations have been drawn from those working in 'remote' situations.

Are there any significant differences between managing office- or workplace-based people and managing those who spend their working life away from the office or workplace? Certainly the five major management skills (planning, organizing, motivating, controlling and developing) will all be needed. However, the most successful managers of remote workers that we interviewed emphasized the following five skills:

• learning to...