Imagine a workplace where you were rated based on your productivity.
Imagine a workplace where a results were rewarded, and not just sheer working hours.
Imagine what would happen if you could work less, even 4 days a week.
Did America go down the right path when we began the 40 hour work week?
Smashing The Clock is an interesting article about an experiment at Best Buy called ROWE, for “results-only work environment.”
At most companies, going AWOL during daylight hours would be grounds for a pink slip. Not at Best Buy. The nation’s leading electronics retailer has embarked on a radical–if risky–experiment to transform a culture once known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses. The endeavor, called ROWE, for “results-only work environment,” seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.
BusinessWeek Online: Smashing The Clock
The tech company I work at has slowly been evolving into a results-only environment over the past few years and it does seem to work very nicely for people who have crazy schedules when it comes to life outside of work. Although I will have to caution that just because you go to a ROWE philosophy, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will eliminate 40 hour work weeks. In reality, depending on the company you work for, 50 to 60 hour work weeks may still be needed if there’s a lot of work to do – it’s just that you will have the luxury of completing them in your favorite cozy chair or at the local coffee shop. 🙂
Yes, you’re right. There are drawbacks. And it doesn’t work very well in a small company (Tornado is 3 people). So for us, if one person isn’t giving “results” then it falls to pieces. At a larger company with defined job descriptions, it probably works the best.