Looking for commitment

I have a problem with some aspects of the virtual work. When you need capable resources in your team and you have to look for it in different locations you face some problems:

• You don’t know these guys.
• You know their CVs,
• You can talk with them just some time during a phone call,
• You can take some point of view from their team leads (who you neither know!).

So you can understand what their capabilities are, but: where can I read about their commitment, how could I know that I can have it?

Ehhh!! people is always very professional…. probably yes, but I for me professional means a set of things and I need to understand that the person who is going to join my team is aligned with these features.

During this process, I don’t just look for capabilities, I also look for the commitment of the different people (the resource manager, the team lead, the person who is going to work).

I recognize to be a pain in the ass with this, I do a lot of questions, I ask a lot of details, but I just want to ensure:

• resource managers: do not offer me the wrong people for the team. Please do not waste my time !!!
• team leads really understand what I need (they have also to be professionals and accountable about what they offer).
• the person who is going to join the team is really aware about what is going to do and what is expected from the rest of the team.

My talks always go with things like: this person is going to be accountable of “this”; should be available to carry on with “that”; will have to face these technical gaps; has this guy overcome situations like “this”? how did he feel in that situation?

In summary, how easy is to find capabilities, and how difficult is to find commitment.