Brazen Careerist and Tech Republic
June 2nd, 2008 by Cali & Jody
Maybe you are here because you saw our 10 ways to increase productivity using a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) mindset on Tech Republic.
Or maybe you are here because you saw our What It’s Really Like in a Results-Only Work Environment post on Brazen Careerist.
But it’s highly unlikely that you are here because you saw both posts.
And so we’d like to do a little internet matchmaking. Tech Republic readers: meet Brazen Careerist readers. Brazen Careerist readers: meet Tech Republic readers.
We think you’ll really like each other. The reason is that whether you’re an IT person trying to get the most of your day, or a young person looking for help in striking out in a new career, both of you have something in common. You both have to deal with the tired, broken, outdated culture of the traditional workplace.
What makes ROWE so exciting is that it makes work better for everyone. It’s not an idea that discriminates based on age or job title or education level. Everyone has a role to play. Everyone can contribute. And if people are contributing, then they should be free to live their lives. It’s a simple idea that works.
Hey ladies! I got your book in the mail this weekend and I am looking forward to reading it over the next couple of weeks! I always read while I’m on lunch!
Thanks again for the early copy. You are both great!
Aaron
Any update on a book signing at BBY corporate?
It seems as though there is a fundamental difference in the way employers and employees think about the value of a job or an employees time… and its expected since one (the employer) has control over the other (the employee).
An employer may not put a monetary value on the job, but rather, they consider the number of people able to do the job and the time it will take to do the job. In the case of web design, they would also consider the demand for that employees service.
If my employer brings on a new developer, they do so thinking they have 40 hours worth of work for that developer to do, if that developer gets done in 24 hours, the company realizes it didn’t estimate the demands of the job properly and will most likely release the employee all together or reduce them to part-time.
Most employers don’t look at it as: We got the job done in the desired time. Let the employee do what they want with the left over time. They view it as: I should have paid that guy less because his job didn’t take as long as we thought it would.
Whenever I talk to my supervisors about a ROWE they inevitably say, “Well you could do whatever you want with the left over time, but if the company notices that you don’t have anything to do for 16 hours a week, they are going to either get rid of you, reduce your pay, or get rid of someone else and spread their work amongst the people that are getting done early.”
What he concludes is, if the company went to a ROWE, it would eventually trim down the staff until they made sure each employee was working 40 hours.
How do you get them to change that mentality?
Aaron: Software|web design is an excellent case study|user case. In a mature shop, folks check their work in at appointed times - end of day, week, month, etc. into some kind of repository for review by those up the chain. The truth is that for the corporation stockholders, not the C-suite, are at the top of that pyramid. When stockholders demand that everyone’s work product must be “checked in” and measured against the company’s stated business goals and be reviewable by the true owners of the business then things can change. Institutional stockholders are under increasing pressure these days to demand this kind of transperancy. Chris Cox at the SEC is promoting interactive data (extensible business reporting language) for corporate reporting — because it can be configured to let you drilldown to an amazing level of detail|activity. Watch for all kinds of PR red herrings coming from the C-suite and mid-managment which should be translated (Hey, I don’t want to be publically measured against my salary). FYI: on other ROWEish baby steps - http://teleworkexchange.com/pdfs/House-Approves-Telework-Bill-6-3-08.pdf
Ed, this is not necessarily the thought pattern of a large company with stock holders… in fact, most web design companies have fewer than 10 employees and the owner is in the office 40 hours a week.
My point is that when people get done early these owners that are around to see them taking off and going home or doing whatever, will either take on more work or get rid of people so that he maximizing production per employee. (He pays based on 40 hours, he wants them working forty hours). They don’t see it as, as long as I make x amount of money this system works.. they always want more.
I’m just not sure how to get them to change that way of thinking. Especially since, as far as they can tell, its a proven business plan.
You’ve got it!! I am here as I;ve seen 10 ways to increase productivity using a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) mindset on Tech Republic.