I just don’t see a downside. I hear people moan about missing the people in the office, but most of the time people are in meetings or tapping behind their screens. When I speak to colleagues from home via email, IM, Google Wave, Twitter or the phone, I get all their attention, not just grunts between tappings on the keyboard.

The distributed workforce is a growing phenomena. We’ll one day look back and marvel at all the wasted time, energy and money spent commuting and paying for expensive office space. Rob, great article

[Re-submitted as original was lost in a server upgrade)

When I started building my staff, I didn’t have the money for an office. I still don’t. But I needed people. So, they all work from home.

The key to success is, firstly, stepping outside one’s own preconceived notions. The idea of staff meetings and regular work hours is the first thing to go. And the first thing they need is your trust.

Employees who are left to their own devices, with a set of clear expectations and good directions, will exceed your expectations every time. I — and others — have been amazed at the quality of our staff and in my opinion, it is about letting them decide how much work they will do when not me dictating.

Personally, I think people want to succeed so if you let them, they will. On the flip side, if they are told exactly what to do, when and checked up on they will do only that.