Who is more engaged and more committed to their work and rates their leaders the highest? …
The team members who were not in the same location with their leaders were more engaged and committed — and rated the same leader higher — than team members sitting right nearby. While the differences were not enormous (a couple of tenths of a point in both categories), they were enough to provoke some interesting speculations as to why this might be happening.
Some possible reasons offered by the author:
• Proximity breeds complacency.
• Absence makes people try harder to connect.
• Leaders of virtual teams make a better use of tools.
• Leaders of far-flung teams maximize the time their teams spend together.
None of this is to say that working remotely is better than coming to the office. Or that virtual teams are better than traditional ones. On the contrary, I’m suggesting that they are exactly the same this regard: Someone working in the same office with their leader needs just as much effective communication as someone located in a different office. It’s just that, ironically, they’re less likely to get it.
Not convinced? Here’s what the rather outspoken lead developer of the Ruby on Rails framework has to say about remote workers: Stop whining and start hiring remote workers - (37signals).
And here’s some advice on how to manage staff remotely.