my new remote employee has terrible internet

A reader writes:

I’ve just hired a new remote employee who is absolutely wonderful. He’s organized, driven, talented and self-starting. I feel like I’ve won the jackpot — with a catch. His internet is really, really bad. It’s almost impossible to have him share his screen with me (or vice versa) or to carry on a conversation without a very noticeable lag. Because of this, he will often call into virtual meetings from his personal phone.

I can’t pretend to know anything about his personal circumstances. For all I know, he could be working through student debt and I would hate to bring up something that might be uncomfortable for him. I have mentioned in passing using alternate technology to try to improve his internet speed, but he would need to purchase this out-of-pocket and he hasn’t done so yet (it’s been a couple of months). What is the safest way to approach this?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

•  Explaining to clients that I’m pregnant with someone else’s babies
• Job applicants contact me on LinkedIn

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