The Spin

What is ROWE?

ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment): ROWE in practice means “each person is free to do whatever they want, whenever they want as long as the work gets done.” Employees control their own calendars, and are not required to be in the office if they can complete their tasks elsewhere. It is generally accepted that there are times when collocation will be necessary. Under normal circumstances, work when and where you like.

Who is using ROWE?

The most widely known adopter is none other than Best Buy. Brad Anderson, CEO of Best Buy, agreed with the work culture change so much that he wrote the forward to the CultureRx book entitled, “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It”. Finding additional companies using ROWE is a bit harder. I have made inquiries to get more examples that will be shared when they become available. A company that I work for has implemented a version of ROWE in the Information Services department. I would estimate that over 75 people participate in the ongoing program.

UPDATE: I’ve gotten in touch with Cali and Jodi, the originators of ROWE, and they have informed me that J.A. Counter & Associates are another company that uses ROWE. A larger list of organizations are due to be published within a month’s time. So, expect further updates when the info is released.

So, Does It Work?

Short answer: yes. We have employed ROWE for well over a year. Employee satisfaction has increased an order of magnitude. That said, ROWE is not a cure all. You will still find many annoying drawbacks that plague most organizations. How to address them may well lay outside of the issues ROWE addresses. Employees truly love the benefits that ROWE does provide.

Stumbling Blocks

• Abusers. These are in the extreme minority. Fear not. Their performance will be the tell-tale that exposes abuse of the ROWE system. Afterall, if the results based on performance are poor and the excuses many, it will quickly become apparent that the individual is not playing by the rules. Solution? Temporarily revoke those ROWE rights. You’ll be amazed at just how quickly performance improves to win back ROWE privileges.

• Reduced osmotic communication. I talked at length about this in another article. It is a real issue. The benefits FAR outweigh the introduction of this problem. Solution? Find tools that emulate osmotic communication and fit into your company’s way of doing business.

• The death of camaraderie. Well, sort of. Nobody likes fabricated situations. Isn’t it awkward when the company forces people without a mutual social interest to participate in personal and social team building exercises? Yes. Yes, it is. Solution? People who genuinely like one another will naturally gravitate. With ROWE, this often takes the form of coffee shop sit-ins, living room office parties and the infamous happy hours. Be sure to have the occasional meeting so that new employees meet existing ones and new relationships can be formed face-to-face.

• The work/home blur. This does seem to occur occasionally. If you are working at strange hours, there are times when it is hard to differentiate between the two. The clear separation becomes a little vague. Solution? Managers are warned not to take advantage of this. Let your employees live their lives. Employees should expect that their companies may contact them during normal business hours and that they should respond during those hours.

• Manager fear. The irrational belief by managers that they will no longer be needed. Especially troublesome to the micro manager whose personality traits desire control. Solution? Educate. Managers will find that coordination is still greatly needed in a ROWE enabled workforce. Relax and let go. Managers who trust their direct reports will always get better results than those who do not.

Benefits

• Productivity increases. People using ROWE got more done in less time.

• Goodbye, commute.

• More time dedicated to personal life. This is healthy. This brings joy. Happy employees are productive. Productivity increases. And so forth…

• Employee retention. ROWE is hard to give up once you’ve experienced it. Employees have a tendency to stay put.

Conclusion

If there are segments of your workforce that are candidates for ROWE, you owe it to yourself (and them!) to seriously consider making the change. The employee satisfaction and increased productivity are reason enough to make a trial run at the minimum. ROWE pays dividends and costs organizations very little to implement.