| I've worked remotely for about four years now: two as a part-time remote worker, one as an employee telecommuter, and one as a freelance developer and manager. Yes, it truly does take a special kind of person to be successful working remotely. <b>It requires a strong work ethic<b>: an internal sense of accountability that persists in the absence of coworkers. However, let's be realistic here. Most people that you will hire don't have this. Those people who have that internal drill sergeant can get be successful by themselves. They don't need you. If you have people like this, you need to do everything in your power to enable them, make them happy, and get out of their way. Management "tricks" that you cite in the comments (e.g., "time tracking, semi-micro management, constant reporting or leaving them more space, trying to get excited with new technical bits, giving them bonus, cutting their salary etc., pep talk, pissed-off talk") just aren't going to work. Here's why: you don't understand what motivates these people. This is not your fault. Understanding people is hard. I'm no guru either. ;) About a year in, this is where I found "Agile Retrospectives". This is a technique to actively engage the whole team in solving the team's problems. Essentially, these are brainstorming sessions, sometimes emotionally charged, that give you and the team the opportunity to air tough problems and feelings, come up with plans to resolve them, and check on the progress of their resolution. Management is a skill; it takes time and many errors to learn how to do it at all well. Can you afford those errors with this team and this project? If not, "fire yourself" as the manager, as you suggested at one point, and find someone who can do it for you. If I wasn't completely booked right now, I'd love to help you and your team on an ongoing basis. Still, if you want someone's brain to pick, feel free to mail me at evan AT tripledogdare DOT net. |