(FORTUNE Magazine) – Some 15 years back, when people who used PCs were still regarded as renegades, I had a conversation with my editor at a national magazine about how technology will change the way our writers work. I waxed enthusiastically (and presciently, I might add) about the advantages of telecommuting and doing research online. "A writer," I told my editor, "might never have to come in to the office." The editor didn't share my excitement. He looked at me in horror. "But there'd be no one to talk to!"

Not exactly, but capabilities for working from home or a remote office have indeed come a long way since I thought a 9,600-kilobyte download was the final frontier. Unfortunately, some managers are still leery of managing people they can't see. And it's not a clean split between Rustbelt companies and the new-economy firms. I've been in dot-coms where cutting-edge videoconferencing and online collaboration tools are used routinely with clients, but employees are still required to punch the clock every day.

If you're one of those managers struggling with the concept of virtual workers, perhaps I can help.

First, reexamine the concept of employee control. A lot of managers like to see the hired hands glued to the computer screens. This may have made sense in an era where work involved the shipping and receiving of goods and workers made sure they didn't put in a minute over the 35 or 40 hours a week they were paid for. But in an age when your company's assets are mostly intellectual property and you've got highly motivated professionals, a chokehold on your employee's bodies may not guarantee the best work. In fact, you may have no choice. For some small businesses (and a growing number of large ones), hard-to-hire workers often ask about working from home part or all of the time. This option can be the dealmaker with a prize candidate, if she happens to have a small child at home or prefers to come in only when there's a meeting that requires face time (or, as I heard a nerd say once, "a biologic interaction").

In many ways, to handle your virtual work force successfully, you have to manage more details and exercise more follow-up. To ensure you're getting your money's worth, come to an agreement (note that I said agreement, not a goal set arbitrarily) with your remote workers about what they will produce and by what date. To use a popular Internet phrase, you have now "monetized" your relationship. In other words: transform that relationship from one based on physical control to one emphasizing results. If the project involves intangibles, such as dependence on other people completing work, you'll want to agree on progress reports at regular intervals. That way you'll spot the bottlenecks.

So how do you get a real take on people when there's little personal contact? It's not as hard as you think. I once managed a staff with folks in New York and in Japan. We came up with the scheme of having someone take notes at staff meetings on both sides of the Pacific and e-mailing them to each other. Those transcripts told me who was prepared, who was contributing ideas, and who was missing deadlines. When we did have a joint staff meeting, or I traveled for biologic interfaces, I found that the opinions I'd formed about personalities from transcripts and conference calls were fairly accurate. And there are better tools now than the fax and phone. Online conference products like Hot Office and Lotus Quickplace let you quickly set up and dissolve virtual work groups via the Internet. You can create a group, give everyone e-mail access, create a central depository where people can dump or pick up files, and use such add-ons as virtual whiteboards and instant chat rooms to brainstorm with your team. It's no water cooler, but then again you may find yourself with a happier, more motivated work force.

JOEL DREYFUSS has been writing about technology for 15 years. He can be reached by e-mail at jdreyfuss@attglobal.net.