When the Covid-19 virus hit and people were all starting to work from home, the grinding of teeth from managers created a deafening sound. The managers were thinking “how will I know if they are working if I can’t see them?”
The bad managers were the ones asking this the most.
The answer is actually quite simple: you set proper expectations, request they report status, and review the deliverables. This is exactly the same thing you should be doing if you are working in the same building.
Effective managers set the expectation (quantity, quality, timing, etc.). The employee does the work and the manager gets a progress report. Once done (or prior to delivery), the manager reviews to ensure it meets the expectation.
Does a manager need to be in the same building to do that? No. Managers have just gotten used to the comfort of walking by and seeing someone deep in thought at a computer and thinking “my team works hard”.
There are benefits to being in the same location, knowing if the employee is working should not be one of them.