Did you know that ants have an instinctive lock on remote teamwork? They've perfected the use of natural chemical messengers called pheromones to communicate over long distances. Without even trying, these tiny insects have mastered one of the most evolved forms of dispersed group communication on the planet.

Okay, so you may not be interested in the finer points of bioteaming, and pheromones are definitely not going to replace your Blackberry as your communication method of choice. But if a little ant can be an effective remote team manager, so can you.

Thanks to PDAs, FTP sites, web conference technology and other collaborative management tools, you have everything you need to manage teams remotely.

But even with the wide array of collaboration tools available, managing a remote team can be extremely challenging. To be effective, you need clear communication practices, mutual trust, and regular reviews to ensure the process is working for everyone. To help, we've assembled this list of best practices for creating and maintaining a high functioning team--no matter how far from the anthill your colleagues are.

Best Practices

Evaluate yourself and the project. Are you, and your mission, up to the challenges of remote team management? Before you take on the project, take a look in the mirror. As the manager of a successful dispersed team, you must: be willing to travel a lot; share your passion for the project with your employees; and be a reliable leader your employees can depend upon.

Once your self-evaluation is complete, you must also assess the project. Will team members be required to collaborate constantly, or conduct frequent brainstorming sessions? If so, the project may not be a good candidate for a dispersed team. Sometimes, there's simply no substitute for the give-and-take of a live meeting.

Budget extra time for project completion. Distance complicates things. When scheduling conference calls, common group tasks, and deliverable deadlines, you will need to make extra time allowances to accommodate things like travel time, time zone conflicts, and technology snafus. When it comes to dispersed teams, a generous time buffer--along with a healthy dose of patience--is invaluable.

Assemble your team. To create an effective dispersed team, select individuals who are self-motivated, disciplined, flexible with their time, and who communicate clearly in writing. Match these team members to tasks that complement their natural style: give extroverts tasks that require more communication; assign introverts home or solo projects. And while you're handing out assignments, be mindful of where colleagues are geographically to create a work process that flows naturally from east to west (9 a.m. Eastern to 5 p.m. Pacific gives you an 11 hour day!).

Make yourself available. If your team is working before or after your nine to five, you must be accessible to them. While it requires extra effort on your part, your staff must feel comfortable calling you at odd hours. Your availability will demonstrate your support for their work, allow them to move forward without wasting valuable time. On the flip side, it's okay to establish reasonable guidelines for when to call--and to expect your staff to follow them.

Build trust among team members. While you may not be able to conduct the classic trust-building exercise of blindly falling backward into one another's waiting arms, here are a few practical ways to build trust among team members:

• Avoid using sarcasm and teasing in distance interactions. Innocent intentions can get lost in translation, undermining established trust.
  
  
• Handle sensitive issues with discretion.
  
  
• Answer your phone. Don't let your employee calls go to your voicemail. If you do miss a call, respond ASAP.
  
  
• Communicate often and in a variety of ways.
  
  

Assign backups and "boundary spanners" to ensure project success. For all critical tasks, assign a point person to pick up the slack at a moment's notice, should someone become ill or quit. Make sure to include plans for remotely accessing both files and contacts. Beyond these redundancy measures, you should also incorporate "boundary spanners" into your team--people who are well connected with important co-workers outside your group--to help keep your team and its accomplishments visible within the company.

Use the right technology. When it comes to technology, let your project needs dictate the right tool(s). As the manager of a dispersed team, you have a heightened responsibility to evaluate and incorporate the appropriate tools to maximize your team's efficiency and collaboration. In addition, make sure that, no matter what technology you use someone is always available to handle technical problems for all your team members. For more complete information on popular business technologies and their applications, see the link at the end of this article.

Be deliberate and systematic in communicating. Distance increases the likelihood, and amplifies the potential consequences, of miscommunication. Defend your team by:

• Developing standard ops. Create five or six communication guidelines that are essential to effective communication (e.g., address sensitive or complex issues over the phone, instead of using e-mail or voicemail).
  
  
• Establish a communication routine. Require team members to create meeting agendas (even for one-on-one conference calls) and weekly project update e-mails for the entire team. These steps may seem like overkill, but they'll save you a lot of grief by cutting down on omissions and miscommunications.
  
  
• When possible, allow employees to use their preferred communication style. As the manager, you can make your staff more comfortable and effective by allowing slow typers to respond via phone, and shy employees to reply via e-mail.
  
  

Fuel collaboration and productivity by building a sense of team. Research shows that people with strong friendships at work are more motivated, loyal, collaborative, and productive. But when your team members don't all work within the same four walls, it's up to you to create a sense of "we." Here's how:

• Build in face time. Assemble team members for project kick-off and wrap-up; conduct performance reviews face-to-face; strive to see each of your staff at least twice a year.
  
  
• Reward and recognize success. Whether you do it randomly or regularly, celebrating your successes as a team will help all members bond.
  
  
• Connect through technology. Start an e-mail newsletter, or set up a chat capability on your web site to foster a virtual community.
  
  

Assess your processes and results. As with any management effort, effective remote team management requires you to, at least a few times a year, take a step back and review. Have your employees compile reports on their accomplishments. Ask your staff what's working and what's not. Set and revisit expectations and goals for individuals as well as the entire team. Once you've gathered and reviewed your feedback, be willing to make changes in processes, timelines, or technology if necessary.