It’s hard to remember when the Internet wasn’t part of our day-to-day lives. But believe it or not, the Internet only became widely used in 1995, making it just under 25 years old. For some of us, it seems like only yesterday, while other people can barely remember a time when we did all our banking in person, paid bills via “snail mail,” watched television to catch up on news stories, did our shopping at a local mall, and picked up a phone to communicate with family and friends.

Recently, the world lost a true legend when iconic businessman Lee Iacocca passed away. Whether you agreed with all of his business decisions or not, no one will deny the impact he had on not only the auto industry, but on U.S. commerce in general. Iacocca once said, “Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them.

We can all agree that becoming a good manager or supervisor takes skill and practice.  That’s true in virtually any workplace. So how in the world do you motivate employees who work from remote locations? You might be surprised to learn that the secret to motivating remote employees is not nearly as much of a mystery as we’ve been led to believe. What follows are some methods used by successful supervisors to keep their remote employees performing and succeeding in their jobs.