Best Buy’s Bold Experiment : ROWE-ing

Best Buy is testing a new approach to managing people and work, called the Results Oriented Work Environment (ROWE) (Via this TIME Magazine Article). Some people have compared it to the flexi-time approach currently in vogue.

In my opinion flexi-time still carries the expectation of the worker coming to the office and being there for a certain number of hours although the start time and end time are flexible. In Best Buy’s model, there does not seem to be any such expectation.  Best Buy says that they are seeing some impressive results -  worker morale and through put has increased significantly.

Now, before you go ahead and switch your company to ROWE-ing and sunset your time sheet systems and clock punchers, read my favorite essayist Scott Berkun’s brilliant article on measuring a worker’s progress.