While you may think that having a remote staff in the U.S. alone might be challenging, the thought of supervising staff scattered around the globe might seem absolutely unmanageable. In fact, overseeing an overseas team is actually simple once you keep these tips in mind.

Set clear guidelines. In order for any company to function, it must have a defined company culture and specific rules. When hiring staff, be sure to clearly explain the mission of the company. Then go over the employee’s specific job responsibilities so they will know what is expected of them, performance-wise.

Be culturally aware. If you have employees in Bali, it can help to know a bit about the culture, especially religious observances and important national holidays. Why? It shows that you’re interested in your staff beyond their productivity level. In turn, that will foster goodwill among your workers because they’ll see that you respect their culture—and them.

Skype your meetings. Say your staff is as far-flung as Budapest. You definitely need to have a connection to your staff beyond 2:00 AM emails. One way to achieve a closer connection to them is to Skype your meetings. That way, both you and your employees can see and hear each other in real time, no matter what their location.

Keep the staff connected. Whether it’s through social media sites like yammer.com or through IM chats, give your staff opportunities to communicate. It will give them a sense of connectedness to the company, to each other and to achieving their goals. It will turn their work from a job into a true career.

Be visual. Even if your foreign staff is fully fluent in English, some things can (and will) get lost in translation. So it’s a good idea to always offer examples of what you need done in a visual format as well as in a Word doc. That way, if your employee has any questions, he can always refer back to the visual as well.

Managing an overseas staff is all about keeping the connection open, offering clearly defined duties, and most of all, showing respect to achieve the ultimate success for your company.