From the perspective of a f/t telecommuting programmer - a commitment form sounds awful. We usually have a few short meetings each week to review what's being w

From the perspective of a f/t telecommuting programmer - a commitment form sounds awful. We usually have a few short meetings each week to review what's being worked on, and to bring up any new tasks. When you have a team as small as you're describing, you'd really function better from less overhead and less micromanagement. That said, if you're in a situation where most tasks tend to take under a week, you could probably effectively use a ticket/bug system to keep track of what needs to be done.