I once had a boss who wanted to see his workers all the time. He didn't want anyone going to a meeting or out to lunch. He wanted to see everyone working at all times.

He would not have done well in today's telecommuting environment, a trend that is growing by leaps and bounds. For starters, a manager has to trust that the employee will be working and not playing pool or watching TV while teleworking.

And the boss has to realize that it's practical for a lot of reasons. It unites workers in many disparate places. It saves money--the cost of gathering workers in one place, and it makes for a happier workplace with employees who excel at working offsite, most likely at home.

If you don't have a telework task force, you better find the time to get one. Any manager, but especially an IT one, needs to address the unique challenges faced by teams working together in a virtual world.

Here are tips from CIO.com on how to make the virtual workplace a better workplace:

• Make sure all team members are in close communication whether they are in Dallas or Detroit.
• Create a collaborative mindset. Eliminate competition among your team and you will have smoother sailing with a common goal.
• Make sure your team knows its goals, where they are going and how to get there.
• Establish clear performance standards. There's nothing worse than staring at a computer screen, not knowing what you should be doing.
• Email communications to team members so everyone is on the same page.

You may be resistant to telecommuting, but it's not going away. It's becoming the norm rather than the exception. As a manager, it's your time to embrace it.

For more on telecommuting:
- see this CIO.com article

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