Jay Littlepage: Life In Balance?

iwork and the new workforce I've read with interest some of the recent backlash against telecommuting.  The most visible has been Randy Mott eliminating telework as an option for HP's IT workforce, citing the productivity gains from having everyone in the office.  But there have been plenty of others, including criticism of Sun's iwork program by current and former employees (a representive example here) citing slackers, abusers of the process, and assorted other ills.

By this logic corporations should hire employees, co-locate them where the boss can evaluate their performance and work ethic via cognative skills which border on the psychic.  They shouldn't partner with other companies, unless they are sure those companies have the same management by observation processes in place.... what?  You measure partners based upon their ability to meet spec?  You trust them to get the job done and take corrective action whenever necessary? What a novel concept.  Perhaps the next step might be to trust your employees.

In any population there will be a subset that takes advantage.  My high school used a modular system which allowed the students to schedule their classes each day.  Econ or civics might be offered 5 times per day, allowing us to schedule around "single musts" (for me, it was band and track).  It was beneficial for the vast majority of students.  But it was abused by a small but visible minority of students who occasionally scheduled classes around hours of slacking and smoking pot - which ultimately was the end of the mod system.  In similar fashion there will always employees who abuse a privilege, as there will be partners/suppliers that cut corners.

But this isn't an iWork problem - it is a management problem.  We live in a global economy with unprecedented linkage with supply chains, markets, and employees.  None of the this is location dependent.  Sure, people management/personnel development was easier when everyone was down the hall.  We did get to know each other better.  Spontaneous conversations generated out of the box ideas and forward progress.

On the other hand, we get a lot more done today. THe spontaneous conversations happen on IM or wikis or email or social networks.  I am sure I put in as many hours today as I ever have - they are just not all sequential.  They fit around my life.  Both my work and my family are the beneficiaries.  From a management perspective, i've learned to evaluate output and not get wrapped around the axle on how exactly that output is created.

There is no going back, which i'm presuming Randy Mott will figure out.  But more to the point - why would you want to?

Posted by jaylittlepage ( Jun 19 2006, 06:03:26 PM MDT ) Permalink Comments [2]