Management at a distance is not uniform — Variations in management of remote employees in a geographically distributed public organisation

This is an exploratory study of the characteristics and variations of management of employees at a distance in a public distributed organisation, Norwegian Public Road Administration (NPRA). Previous studies of management of telework has assumed the same general requirements, especially related to the need for more planning, conscious use of different media and the need to maintain enough communication. In this study of ten middle-manages and supervisors from two administrative sections of NPRA, we find that adjustments must be made towards "non-independent" teleworkers through more support or control, knowledge development, more structuration of job design or through local support. There are also variations related to travelling, managerial level, functional responsibilities and personal priorities.