"I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it."

  Tommy LaSorda

Everyone has, at one point in their work life, been a clock watcher. The everyday drudgery of a nine-to-five job can oftentimes feel like a marathon, where employees gain the nasty habit of clock-watching, thereby rendering the remaining hours of the day to stretch on torturously. As you might imagine, productivity suffers as a result. It is no wonder that ROWE was created. I first heard of the concept, ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) at a training in Winona, Minnesota, led by two energetic and convincing consultants-former employees of Best Buy which had standardized the ROWE concept throughout the headquarters. 

The ROWE concept throws away the time clock and pays employees based on their results, not their time. It gives employees the freedom to manage their own time. The idea completely intrigued me; eliminate the need for employees to show up at a building each day by trusting them to get the job done in their own way on their own time. Why had no one thought of this before? As I was listening to the consultants speak, my mind was concerned that:

1) Managers had to set clear expectations in order for this to work and many are not good at this..., and

2) Managers need to hold their employees accountable which many are really not good at ..., and

3) Some employees are just not self-disciplined with their time

My fears were dismissed when the trainers showed us the statistics for Best Buy and their productivity was up by 40% in one year! Employees reported being happier with their jobs and consequently were more productive. I was hooked on the idea and eager to see the rest of the workforce catch up....until this weekend.

I was introduced to a man and woman who worked at the Best Buy corporate office; as you can imagine, I was curious to hear their inside perspectives and so I asked them how it was working. Their answers varied, but I learned that Best Buy's new CEO had retracted the ROWE idea and reinstated the traditional work hours. The young man with whom I spoke told me the ROWE idea was a bust-that managers were struggling with holding employees responsible. He also mentioned that the younger workforce did not have the experience and discipline to manage their time and get the necessary results. The young woman related to me that the workers who considered themselves very independent and disciplined were the ones who found the greatest success with the results driven atmosphere. In other words,it takes a certain type of person and a well-trained manager to optimize the ROWE environment.

Question for You:

As a manager, have you been trying to introduce more flexibility into your employee's work hours? As an employee are you trying to convince your boss to measure on results versus time spent in a task?

Action For You:

As a boss, offering flexibility in your employee's work day is a positive approach to take and one that will attract a younger generation. If you are moving towards a ROWE concept, you need to be clear and concise in stating and measuring your expectations knowing that not every employee is good at managing their time. As an employee wanting ROWE to be adapted in your workplace, you will need to demonstrate your ability to get results and hit your goals on a consistent basis in order to win the trust of your employer.

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."

Peter Drucker