Over the past ten years I have managed product launch and ongoing projects using remote employee throughout the United States. I am often asked about what I think about "Telecommuting" having studied the pros and cons of remote employees, procedures, management, and the benefits to a company if they can be successfully managed. The key metric here is that the remote team has to be effectively managed and mentored. Without this high degree of leadership the remote employee structure will not produce the expected results.

The change over from an office full of commuting employees to home based employees has be be managed, especially regarding the motivation of prospective employees. Many believe that remote employees conjure up images of lazing around in slippers, or working on a beach under the palm trees. Nothing can be further from reality. Remote employees have to be disciplined with a well managed work load. Much depends on the change manager and how the team is developed, trained and motivated.

The teams have to have total trust in their manager, and the manager has to have total trust in the team, and quickly weed out the bad apples that can quickly spoil the barrel. The communication network, back up systems, help desk and computer equipment are also critical to the success of the remote network.

In my experience remote employees, motivated and guided, will work far harder than employees housed in expensive offices, with distractions and office politics playing their part in reducing the efficiency of the team. On the other hand upper management can't walk around surveying their empire, a practice I have seen many times over the years.

The remote employee can be many times more profitable, and effective than even the best, or worst call center, that flawed concept that came from the travel industry several years ago. The remote employee brings the benefits of local knowledge, and variable time zones into the mix. In some States this local connection can be a positive reinforcement. Texans like to speak to Texans, and the Southern States still don't like those in New York and New Jersey.

The choice of computer and phone equipment is crucial, and sadly just getting the cheapest, ugliest, heaviest surplus computer equipment is counter productive, as well as being expensive in shipping costs. The savings in buying CRT monitors, massive printers and old reconditioned desktop computers is quickly lost. Remember you are asking a remote employee to take this supplied equipment and find a place for it in their house, or apartment. A smart laptop is more expensive at first, but has far more benefits. Sadly most of these decisions are made by people who have never worked remote, and don't understand the problems and their solutions.

Another area to be watched is the conference call. Each team member has to be considerate of the rest of the team, with no yapping dogs, no screaming kids, no radio's playing, and please no cell phones in the car.

The conference call needs to be planned, with a laid out agenda, and not just filling in a couple of hours. Many industries consider 15 to 30 minutes the optimum. For some reason pharma companies like to drone on for hours. Many long conference calls, if they were planned ahead of time could be over in 15 minutes, with the team released to work on the clients needs.

Remote employees need to be factored in to the business plan when the company is formed. To change the corporate culture from in house to remote usually leads to less than spectacular results. Few senior managers want to give up their corner suites and their power meetings, and work from home. It takes a lot of organizing to create a home office that can manage other remote employees, and track office politics. It also means a managers day starts early and ends late. My phone would start ringing at 6.30 am and stop around 9 pm, when the Californians finally went home.

Over the past ten years many new product teams have been created and successfully put into the field. Remote employees are clearly the wave of the future especially in times of spiraling gasoline costs.