Many people will jump to technology solutions when talking about tele-working, off-site contractors, or these “Digital Nomads.” But taking a step back, lets try to think more about why this is a problem. In most offices I have worked in, and from others I have heard about, actual work related face to face meeting is not done on a significant scale. If the person is not in ear shot, virtually everyone will email, IM or phone someone else that is in the office. So how does this position the nomad differently? Looking at the other suggestions, they all recommend solutions such as blogs, Sharepoint, IM, etc, things that probably could, or should, be used in your normal office environment regardless of remote employees.

So back to the question: Why do we always feel uneasy about people who work out of office?

The answer is almost in the question. The reason why contractors or sales teams are sent on site to another office is the very reason we feel uneasy about not having them in our office. There are 3 primary reasons:

1. For fast, clear, and effective communication, nothing will beat out a face to face talk.
Being able to see someone’s facial expressions, hand gestures, vocal changes, etc is something that is simply a staple of human communication now. That feel is lost over text so IM and email do not convey these things directly. This is why sales teams will almost always, given the option, choose to present in person; it’s easy to convey your ideas and understand other people’s reaction to them. Short of video conferencing, nothing comes close to being able to replace this.

2. The idea that you CAN have a face to face talk is comforting.
When some fatal error happens on your website, do you walk over to your desk, write up a clear email outlining all the steps you did to find the error, and then send it to hosting? Or do you run like an olympic sprinter into the hosting guy’s office and drag him into the server room to fix the problem as you talk it through? The idea of being able to walk into someone’s office, not have to wait or be in an email queue, and get your urgent matters addressed right away is comforting.

3. There is a reassuring feeling of knowing someone is working if they are in the office with you.
Sadly, this is the case for almost anyone you will ask. Even if your most reliable employee is working from home, and he sends in his work quickly and correctly, there is still an increase in the feeling that he may simply be slacking off.

Unfortunately, I have no answers in this insight. As one who has worked from home, and as one who currently is in the office today working with tele-workers, there is no 100% solution. When I have to assign a task to someone who is working in office or to someone who is working remotely, I instinctively prefer the one who I can see in the office and have to deliberately remind myself to even things out. The paradox is that I communicate with that individual the same way I do with the person off site; other than some water cooler talk and passing each other in the halls, almost all of the work communication is done via our ticketing system, IM and email.

In conclusion, tele-working is not a business issue as much as a human one; we crave that tangible person in the cube next to us instead of anonymous text on a screen. The work can be just as good, done just as fast, but we have an innate preference for someone in the office. There have also been studies to show tele-workers are less likely to be promoted, and I am certain this is a contributing factor. As long as we are social creatures, remote working will always be less preferred or “different” to working in the office.