Great post. Since you have never worked remotely however your fears show in your prose. I would offer that you need to work remotely for a minimum of 90 days and get back to us.

I've been on both sides of the pond shore. I've managed employees as far remote as the other side of the globe and as close as 2 blocks. Plus I have myself, worked remotely for as little as 6 weeks and am currently working from 2 time zones for 6 months.

What I have learned is that there are at least two types of ponds. One is as you describe. The office - with a member becoming distant. The other is always virtual. Weather it's by distance or simple corporate size, the virtual pond takes care of itself. There is a third variation where both the position and worker exist from the beginning as a virtual "add on" to the office pond. This one depends entirely on how the position is setup from the beginning and could be an article in itself.

In order for the relationship to be successful in your case, both the manager and the remote worker have to be aware of the pond. In your version of the pond the manager becomes a PR person of sorts, in that he has to properly frame the remote worker. For example - the employee I had working from 6 time zones was an intranet developer. I enacted a framework that guided communication and set an expectation of 24 hour response on change requests. The effect was "request it today - done by the time you come to work tomorrow". Everyone loved it. Including him as he got really good actionable requests that required little to no followup.

For the worker - if they are leaving a pond - must be able to throw big rocks and have a network that reports ripples. I personally have a worked at my company for many years and have my personal network I rely on. When the big memo comes out or the new system arrives I know who to call and how to get the dirt. I also know who to trust when it comes to gauging my success in the eyes of my co-workers.

The timezone issue is huge. For me I'm 2 hours east of my office. I'm working by 5:30 or 6am their time. When I'm eating dinner they are in 4pm meetings... One of the burdens of remote work is managing this effectively. What this means varies. One of my remote co-workers keeps the same hours as her team despite the timezone difference. In my environment the team at the office works flexible shifts anyway - some start at 6:30 and go home at 3:30. Some start at 10 and work till 7. Most all of us work nights or weekends on a fairly regular basis. Plus we are all very independent. Usually working our own singular projects. If we can't find someone or get them on the phone - we are adult and leave a message or an email. All this makes it much simpler for remote workers. Your millage will certainly vary. If the expectation in your office is that you answer your phone 9-5 in your timezone the remote worker will have to abide by that. Just like the woman I mention above. Put it in the remote work contract. Think through the position and the cultural requirements - discuss it with the employee and put it on paper. Schedule a review for changes and amendments to the contract - maybe face to face.

In my situation - remote work means I work more hours and I spread it over a longer part of the day. I start early. But when the kids get home I'm "away" for a couple hours - However I still forward to my cell while I'm cooking dinner or driving the kids. I try to minimize late afternoon meetings but still attend one or two a week. I then do a little work in the evening. This amounts to late afternoon at the home office. Long days for me but that's the price of the flexibility remote work affords.

Tips to the remote worker - work the telephone. Call your co-workers. Pull them into your project or visually show them you are working on theirs. I keep a virtual meeting setup most of the time so that I can whiteboard at a moments notice. Get a good PTZ webcam for the home office. One that is self contained with a web server built in. Set a static IP and just ask your boss to plug it in at staff meetings. Simple. No-setup and it will improve your understanding of meetings from the 60% on simple speaker phone to 90%. No kidding. It's also a nice low-tech reminder for your team of your presence in the meeting.