I don't know if you had a chance to watch the the World Cup final game last Sunday but it was one sorry show.  There we had it, two world finalists and a game that was slow, sloppy, and embarrassing. By half-time, the Netherlands' team had more yellow cards than shots at goal. Awful ball handling, very few good shots, and scores of fans with stone-cold faces, 14 yellow cards and one red.

And the thing is, who could have thought that it won’t be a great game? Both teams doubtlessly deserve their reputation, with player superstars that have proven themselves through the ranks of the World Cup.  So how is it possible that at the end of the long and grueling Cup, the best of the best have given such poor performance?

I don't know about you, but I'm guessing that there was more than one IT project manager out there with a sense of déjà vu. Can you guess how well even the best consultants and SME's perform at the end of a difficult, long-term, high pressure engagements, far away from home?

Here's a hint: not very well.

In the end, it doesn't matter how much money is on the table, or how much experience one has. IT analyst's job is not as physically taxing as star athletes' but our projects are longer and certainly lack similar support. And as anyone who worked away from home for longer than 6 months can attest, eventually it stops being important how nice the hotel is, you just want to go home.  Of course, it takes a certain breed of person to be comfortable on the road for so long - young, unmarried, and certainly no kids. When family priorities change, an industry loses an expert who's available anytime, anywhere. Most look for local gigs, typically taking a pay cut.

But why does that have to be the case? What is the difference between a contractor sitting on another floor of your building and the one working out of his home town? The first thing to do to reach him is to pick up the phone, anyway.

And that's really the big question, isn't it?  From my experience, the answer comes down to just one thing - preconceptions. It doesn’t even have to do with technology: we’ve been using phones, instant messaging, and remote desktops for ages. Technology doesn’t seem to help changing the age-old idea that if you can't see the person, he's not working for you. "Working from home" has especially bad connotation; we used to joke that south of the border it translates as "siesta". But just how much benefit to an organization it would be to have an expert who is always reachable, always accountable and who's perfectly happy?  Remote employee would most likely be willing to take a lower rate, not even counting travel expenses, which can add as much as 20% to the rate.  But financial benefits aside, how reasonable is it to invest in a fantastic technology and not being to support it simple because there aren’t enough specialists available locally?

Being in IT gives us advantages soccer superstars will never have.  It took the business world awhile to grow comfortable with conducting business online and the results have been incredible.  Learning to manage projects and resources remotely is a key shift in mindset that can put talented, happy experts at the virtual doorstep of your organization.