But getting the management right can be tricky, so if you’re sitting in an office wondering where all your minions have gone, read on . . .

1. Trust that it will be done. Presenteeism is so old world. Modern managers need to trust that people are going to deliver. “People need to be measured on output rather than input. They need to be measured on their achievements — it shouldn’t matter where and when the work is done,” says Becky Mason, a senior people and policy manager at BT.

2. Measure outcomes. “Managers need to sit down and agree with employees what makes sense. They need to agree on how they will both know the job is getting done,” says Peter Thomson, the director of the Future Work Forum at Henley Management College.

3. Talk to people. In a survey of remote workers by Henley (see box, below), communication was considered to be the most important skill needed by managers. Mason agrees: “People need to feel part of a team. Pick up the phone and say ‘How are you?’ It can mean a great deal.”

4. Balance it. It is important for managers to appreciate that employees can’t be available on e-mail or BlackBerry 24/7. “The important question is ‘Who has their finger on the off button?’ If it is management then it is potentially invasive. If it is the individual, then it can be liberating,” Thomson says.

5. Go down the pub. People miss out on valuable social interactions when they don’t meet face to face. “Managers need to organise social events. Even if it is just that everyone comes in on a Friday and goes to the pub at lunchtime. You can’t rely on people accidentally bumping into each other in the corridor,” Thomson says.

6. Put it in the diary. Managers need to be organised; meetings and teleconferences need to be scheduled for virtual teams to work at their best. Work management and time management are key to the effective running of remote teams, according to research by Knowledge Ability (see box, below).

7. Get in touch with your feelings. Research by Thomson found that managers of remote teams need a greater degree of emotional intelligence (EQ) than those with colleagues around them. You need to be able to pick up on emotions without seeing people.

8. Training still matters. Managers and workers can benefit from training in how to work flexibly, Thomson says. Training in self-motivation, coaching, EQ and teamworking as well as IT and health and safety are important.

9. Use IT. Choose IT appropriate to the team and work. A study in Harvard Business Review (see box, right) suggests that creativity is greater when remote teams use online team chatrooms rather than teleconferencing.

10. Up your game. “Lazy managers can get away with managing by sitting in the office but you have to be more organised and have more interpersonal skills to manage remotely,” Thomson says.

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