Virtual work (telecommuting) has increasingly become a topic in popular news as well as management and leadership journals. Fortunately, the ubiquity of new Internet-based tools has created opportunities to work remotely as never before. Some of these new technologies facilitate team-based synchronous working environments (collaboration), which simulate traditional face-to-face working arrangements (tele-presence). Working arrangements such as these have changed and disrupted traditional face-to-face working arrangements. As such, they have led to criticisms of virtual work, and in some cases have led to the reduction or elimination of the practice. This is in stark conflict with the efficiencies that are found by many firms in terms of a reduction of employee footprint costs ($10,000/year/employee on average), reduced travel costs, and the ability to meet and work on different geographically dispersed teams in a single day. And while riveting an airplane is obviously not the type of work well suited to the virtual workspace, work endeavors that are knowledge-based are quite achievable in a virtual work environment. Are the critics correct in wanting to return to more traditional face-to-face work arrangements? Are the difficulties experienced with virtual work a function of the management of knowledge work? Is there a human resources component to achieving success and innovation with virtual work; and are there categories of work that will be more successful with virtual work? Perhaps, most importantly, can virtual leaders and virtual employees overcome the challenges of working virtually through assessment, training, and certification? This paper uses activity theory as a foundational framework and analyzes factors such as employee motivation and engagement (emotional, goals, objectives, etc.), policy and leadership issues, technology, and work design. The paper suggests best practices for leadership, policy, and training, as well as the type of work more suited for the virtual workspace. Finally, the paper lists areas for further study and consideration including employee motivation, engagement, and work-life balance.