Diagnosing the distance : Managing communication with dispersed technical workforces

Identifies and analyses the unique communication challenges arising from the employment of mobile service engineers, in whose supervision and work conditions, it is argued, are combined the disadvantages of both remote and face‐to‐face communication management contexts, without the advantages of either. The paper therefore begins by examining closely the communication dynamics that distinguish this “dispersed” work situation from others and make it particularly challenging, and then suggests a model for diagnosing what organisations might do to overcome these challenges.