If you've ever had anyone on your team work remotely – whether it's at home, or in an office that's different than yours – then you've experienced the stress of not being able to manage tasks directly. Often that leads people to try to centralize their workforce. The challenge is that you then end up being limited in who you can hire – by the folks close to you, and by the local cost of living. Remote workers can enhance your virtual team by offering you much-needed skills from parts of the country that isn't as expensive. They can also provide expertise when you need it. But how do you manage them when you're not next to them?
I wrote an eBook about this, which you can find on Amazon. And I'm now writing a second book on managing software engineers (working title: Herding Cats). But yesterday I delivered one of my presentations on having success in distributed contexts to the great folks at WordCamp Los Angeles. You can see it here.