A Manager’s Guide to
Telecommuting

 Communicate!
(There, now you can sleep through the rest of this because it all boils
down to this)
The Secret

 What is it
 Benefits of telecommuting
 Identifying the responsible party
 Tools
 Techniques
 Tips
What we will cover

What is it?

 Not “working from home”
What is it?

 Not “working from home”
 “Location independent” is the key word
What is it?

Benefits

 Less time lost commuting
Benefits

 Less time lost commuting
 Lower facilities cost
Benefits

 Less time lost commuting
 Lower facilities cost
 More productive because of fewer
interruptions
Benefits

 Less time lost commuting
 Lower facilities cost
 More productive because of fewer
interruptions
 Some States and municipalities offer tax
credits for companies that allow part or full
time telecommuting.
(http://www.ncsl.org/programs/employ/telecommute-chart-03.htm)
Benefits

It’s a Management Problem

 If you are a manager, it is up to you to
figure out how to manage remote
developers.
It’s a Management Problem

 If you are a manager, it is up to you to
figure out how to manage remote
developers.
 If you manage an IT department and you
have managers that cannot manage
remote developers, get new managers.
It’s a Management Problem

Tools

 Skype
Tools

 Skype
 irc
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
 Desktop Sharing
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
 Desktop Sharing
 Conferences
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
 Desktop Sharing
 Conferences
 Sandbox Server
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
 Desktop Sharing
 Conferences
 Sandbox Server
 Wiki
Tools

 Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
 Google Docs
 Desktop Sharing
 Conferences
 Sandbox Server
 Wiki
 Virtual machine/development environment
Tools

Techniques

 Interaction is the key
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
 Set Goals
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
 Set Goals
 Regularly review progress against goals
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
 Set Goals
 Regularly review progress against goals
 Don’t go more than 1 business day without
talking to each remote developer.
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
 Set Goals
 Regularly review progress against goals
 Don’t go more than 1 business day without
talking to each remote developer.
 Establish clear guidelines and expectations
regarding working hours.
Techniques

 Interaction is the key
 Interact Regularly, Interact Often
 Working Together !== Interacting
 Set Goals
 Regularly review progress against goals
 Don’t go more than 1 business day without
talking to each remote developer.
 Establish clear guidelines and expectations
regarding working hours.
 Be realistic in your work hours expectations
Techniques

Tips

 Listen carefully
Tips

 Listen carefully
 The most important thing to remember when
managing remote developers is to
communicate with them!
Clearly, politely, cleanly, passionately, and
most of all continuously communicate
with them.
Tips

Cal Evans
Director of the PCE, Ibuildings
http://techportal.ibuildings.com
http://blog.calevans.com
http://twitter.com/calevans
cal@ibuildings.com
cal@calevans.com
AIM:cal@calevans.com
Skype: cevans-ibuildings
http://joind.in/talk/view/212
Who Am I?