A survey conducted by Potential Unlimited, asked managers about the difficulties they've encountered in managing telecommuters. Three areas of concern expressed by these managers are; who is a good candidate, which job functions can be adapted to remote work, and how to facilitate communication in a virtual work environment. These same issues will affect the leadership of virtual teams.

Who is a good candidate for the virtual workplace? Managers want to know how to predict the likelihood of a particular individual's success when that individual is working from a different location than their managers. The virtual workplace allows for limited supervision, and limited contact with other team members. This limited contact time shapes the criteria for selecting successful candidates. Experience shows that working virtually requires a proven, self-disciplined, self-starter.

Verifone is a company that understands the virtual workplace. In many of their locations, a significant number of individuals work from home. Other locations, such as their Chicago and Dayton offices have been eliminated completely and all employees telecommute. Gary Baty, is Head of Human Resources for Verifone, and has five direct reports who currently telecommute. When determining whether or not an individual will make a good telecommuter, Baty looks first at what the individual is currently accomplishing. Baty says, "I can see by the quality of what they are producing, whether or not the individual has a solid work ethic."

Experience is also a factor in determining who will be successful in the virtual workplace. If an individual has relatively new responsibilities, they are more likely to need close supervision and therefore not a good candidate for virtual work.

Which jobs/projects adapt well? The first consideration in determining adaptability is the face-to-face factor; the determination of the importance of personal interaction to the task. Just as you would probably never consider getting on a plane with a virtual flight attendant, you don't want to consider moving any task - - that is dependent on face-to-face personal interaction - - to a virtual environment.

Working virtually doesn't have to mean no face-to-face contact. Most jobs or projects require some face-to-face contact. The question is how much contact and when? Virtual teams schedule time for face-to-face meetings. Telecommuters can frequently condense face to face time into scheduled blocks of time, coming into the office only a few days a week.

Other issues to consider, particularly for telecommuting:

• How dependent is the job/project on processes handled by other individuals?
  
• Does the job/ project require large blocks of uninterrupted time or does it entail processing a single component of a much larger operation?
  
• Do the functions of the job/project allow for long term planning, or does it require just in time response to the burning issues of the day?
  
• Is the information being processed sensitive, and requiring levels of security that can't be found outside of a traditional work environment?

How do I improve communications in a virtual environment? Managing from distance frequently means changing the way a manager works. Many managers are used to being hands on, physically checking in on the work being done, and getting water cooler updates. They are concerned about how they will control the quantity and quality of work when employees are scattered about at various locations.

At one level, the manager needs to deal with technical expertise, time zone differences and scheduling conflicts. Glen Tines, Program Manager of Hewlett Packard's Strategic Change Services, is a veteran of virtual teams. He has been involved both as leader and participant in short term and long term teams. Tines finds communications technology crucial when team members are scattered across the country and across the world. For Tines, the "technical tools; phone, computer, and software provide a common work space."

At a more fundamental level, managing from a distance means learning to delegate succinctly, and build trust diligently. Successful managers of telecommuters and virtual teams provide individuals with both purpose and process. They communicate clear team and individual goals, and provide understandable guidelines for how to achieve those goals.

Clearly defined goals and guidelines help to develop trust, but according to Tines, "Developing the kind of social warmth, spontaneous humor, and social bonding that come naturally when people come together," is the challenge of working virtually. To overcome this problem, HP core teams typically come together once each quarter, to spend 2-3 days physically working together. Teams at HP have also developed trust building strategies using the technical tool of the virtual workplace. One technique is to start a conference call with an opportunity for everyone to check in personally before moving on to project status. Another way to build in team spirit, is by posting personal profiles online, creating personal dimension and prompting discussions among team members.

Working virtually can mean having to adapt a company's management style, but it creates a more flexible workplace. Baty explains that an employee in his department, for health reasons, could not drive for six months. Because telecommuting is so commonplace in their organization, it was a smooth transition to have this employee telecommute for six months. Telecommuting arrangements and virtual teams can benefit everyone, with a little planning.