Faced with a talent war, more and more companies are allowing developers to telecommute to attract the talent they need. Managing remote workers has its own unique challenges. We will go over these challenges, as well as tools available to make managing remote workers easier.

1. A Manager’s Guide to
Telecommuting

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

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

4. What is it?

5.  Not “working from home”
What is it?

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

7. Benefits

8.  Less time lost commuting
Benefits

9.  Less time lost commuting
 Lower facilities cost
Benefits

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

11.  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

12. It’s a Management Problem

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

14.  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

15. Tools

16.  Skype
Tools

17.  Skype
 irc
Tools

18.  Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
Tools

19.  Skype
 irc
 Instant Messaging
 Email
Tools

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

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

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

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

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

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

26. Techniques

27.  Interaction is the key
Techniques

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

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

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

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

32.  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

33.  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

34.  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

35. Tips

36.  Listen carefully
Tips

37.  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

38. 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?