Monitoring remote employee conduct is just as important as keeping an eye out for improper behavior in a physical office. Regardless of the setting, poor employee conduct creates a toxic atmosphere that hurts productivity and morale. Managers must take swift action that clearly demonstrates the company will not tolerate people being uncivil to one another.

When dealing with remote staff, however, leaders often face the problem of missing early signs of trouble. Their first clue about tensions may come at an advanced stage, such as when colleagues fail to make a deadline because of problems working together, when harassment pushes an employee to file a complaint with HR, or when someone quits because he has had enough of hurtful comments and unkind behavior from co-workers.

“When you’re in an office setting you can often see there’s a problem from body language or the way people interact…