Autonomy, ROWE and Team Performance

 

I had a great Scoutmaster when I was a boy. He drove an old Army Jeep and knew everything there was to know about just about everything in the woods (at least that's what I thought at the time).

We bounced all over Utah in his old Jeep (which is probably why I enjoy driving a Jeep today). On one of those trips, while passing a herd of sheep, he whistled loudly and laughed as the sheep all started to run. He explained that when the sheep hear the whistle, they know the sheepdog is not far behind—if they start moving for the whistle, they don't get snapped at by the dog. I've noticed a lot of work environments that operate the same way.

As many of you know, I've been reading Daniel Pink's book Drive:The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. On this blog we talk a lot about empowering the team to contribute at a greater level, however maybe we should be talking about creating a more autonomous project environment. Pink describes the Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson brainchild, ROWE (results-only work environment), which I find fascinating and potentially very exciting.

"In a ROWE workplace, people don't have schedules. They show up when they want. They don't have to be in the office at a certain time—or any time for that matter. They just have to get their work done. How they do it, when they do it, and where they do it is up to them," writes Pink.

I'm sure to some business leaders (and probably project managers) this must sound like anarchy. I have to admit, it's not something my boss would have even considered thirty years ago. However, Pink shares the experience of Meddius CEO Jeff Gunther and how implementing a ROWE workplace has been incredibly successful at his company.

"Some people (outside of the company) thought I was crazy," says Gunther. "They wondered, 'How can you know what your employees are doing if they're not here?'"

You might be thinking the same thing. In Gunther's view "...the team was accomplishing more under the new arrangement," writes Pink. "One reason: They were focused on the work itself rather than on whether someone would call them a slacker for leaving at three P.M. to watch a daughter's soccer game. And since the bulk of his staff consists of software developers, designers, and others doing high-level creative work, that was essential."

"For them, it's all about craftsmanship," says Gunther. "And they need a lot of autonomy."

I have to admit, I've worked for people before who have watched the clock to see what time I came into the office and what time I have left every day—it is oppressive. If you asked my wife, she would tell you that she thinks I have always spent too much time at work, regardless of whether or not my clock-watching boss thought so. If I'm in the middle of something, I usually end up loosing track of time and working until I'm done. I don't think I'm that unusual. I know a lot of people who validate Pink's assertions and Gunther's observations.

Over the course of my career I've noticed that most people take a lot of pride in what they do and the "craftsmanship" associated with it. Treating people like resources that need to be managed can stifle their motivation and turn a project team of creative problem-solvers into a group of mindless automatons. That's not good for the project, the organization or the "collective."

I understand that most of us don't have the authority within our organizations to create a ROWE workplace, but what can we learn from this experiment of Meddius that we can apply within our project teams? Do you work to create an atmosphere of autonomy among the team?