MIT Sloan Management Review

Working from home or other remote work arrangements can be beneficial to both employees and companies. However, these nontraditional arrangements also have hidden pitfalls. Employees who work remotely may end up getting lower performance evaluations, smaller raises and fewer promotions than their colleagues in the office — even if they work just as hard and just as long. The difference is something called “passive face time” — the simple act of merely being seen in the workplace.

Virtual worlds have been slow to catch on in businesses — but employees familiar with the technology may help.

As increasing numbers of employees work remotely, companies need to find effective ways to manage internal communication and social interaction, and also to provide these employees with opportunities to become more visible.

A “postcompany” school of experts says information technology is enabling a new world of seamless collaboration among businesses. They recommend that executives tear down the “walls” and merge their companies into amorphous “enterprise networks.” Nick Carr counters that new technologies will never conquer cutthroat competition and shows why managers need to be wary of alliances that foreclose opportunities for advantage.

How one company implemented a “telework” program that transformed paper-based processes and reliance on voice communications into automated procedures supported by full-scale connectivity.

Successful virtual offices require radical new approaches to evaluating, educating, organizing, and informing workers.