Jennifer Sutton, a "virtual friend," as in we've known each other online for 15 years but have never met in-person, alerted me to a couple of very good posts from A List Apart, an online publication for website designers. This article, "The Long Hallway" by Jonathan Follett, draws an interesting distinction under the section head (which I love and am impelled to edit), "This isn’t your father’s [or mother's, ahem] telecommute:"
On the surface, the long hallway of the virtual company shares characteristics with the well-established practice of telecommuting [as they use similar tools and processes].
However, there is a fundamental difference between telecommuting and the long hallway. To be a remote worker means that the core function of a company lies elsewhere. Telecommuters work remotely for businesses that already possess an established culture and physical buildings. They are satellites orbiting a larger concern. For virtual companies with long hallways, the company exists wherever its people are—and nowhere else.
I concur that this is a vital difference and one that creates different cultures in both types of concerns. Those working in "the long hallway" are culture-creators from the get-go, while telecommuters, no matter how sensitive their home enterprises, are adapting to norms and mores (more-ayz) that already exist. Good distinction, Jonathan. The whole piece is worth a look.
