I've been an intercontinental telecommuter for several years now, in a senior individual contributor role, and it has worked out quite well overall.
A friend of mine for a while managed a small non-telecommuting team as a telecommuter, but went back to an individual contributor role after that.
His theory was that telecommuting for an individual works if that individual has a "telecommuting mindset" (self driven, communicative, etc). In order for telecommuting to work for a manager, all his subordinates need a "telecommuting mindset" as well.
A friend of mine for a while managed a small non-telecommuting team as a telecommuter, but went back to an individual contributor role after that.
His theory was that telecommuting for an individual works if that individual has a "telecommuting mindset" (self driven, communicative, etc). In order for telecommuting to work for a manager, all his subordinates need a "telecommuting mindset" as well.