When the Hudson Bay Company began sending traders to the New World in the 17th century, it developed protocols for managing a distributed workforce that are pertinent today. The small headquarters staff in London chose independent adventurers capable of self-sufficiency, but they provided mentoring and training. Importantly, the company stayed in communication — as best they could when annual letters to and from the traders arrived by schooner. The lesson learned? “We call it the balance of trust and control,” says Cliff S. Moser, AIA, operations director of the Los Angeles firm Cadforce, which facilitates communications between U.S. architecture and construction firms and outsourcing teams in India. The traders were required to keep daily diaries, which became, in today’s parlance, the “knowledge base” that enabled the Hudson Bay Company to gradually improve the operations.

Despite vastly faster communication speeds, modern companies face similar challenges of trust and control with off-site workers. Each case is different, but the balance can be adjusted with the use of technology and an understanding of the cultural barriers created by geographic separation.