ROWE vs. Lean: My Two Cents

Can the Results-Only Work Environment follow the operational excellence path?

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 10:46

Recently, fellow-blogger David Kasprzak, introduced me to the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) strategy. ROWE, created at Best Buy’s Minneapolis headquarters, espouses a philosophy under which employees can work where they want, when they want, and how they want—as long as the work gets done.

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Of course, there’s nothing like a brand-new philosophy or system to challenge and sharpen one’s personal belief systems. You can’t defend that which you don’t understand.

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Comments

Submitted by 6_sigma on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:25

With BBY trading at $25 +/- today and at $50 +/- five years ago, ROWE seems suspect. Add to that no measurably excellent experience in any of my recent transactions with BBY, and I conclude that BBY needs a different quality management system.

Submitted by jmagnuso on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 13:50

I think the ROWE philosophy tries to add value to the lives of the worker and company under the basis that the human is an imperfect and inconsistent machine, and our creativity and motivation fluctuate throughout the day. If the company does not lose value from employees when they work at non-traditional working hours, then they can tap into the idea that they can add more value through letting the work get done at the time of their employees' peak effectiveness, which may happen during non-traditional working hours.  Because most philosophies of continuous improvement are based off the idea that processes are consistent, they don't really apply to the ROWE concept.

1. 6_SIGMA - BBY is part of the entertainment delivery and electronics industry and as such has been susceptible to the unprecedented speed of technological change that has had that sector in a constant turmoil for several years. I would say that BBY zigged when perhaps they should have zagged, not really a management style per se.

2. MARK - In every work environment I've encountered, there are a set of prescribed parameters that define the expected outcome of an employee's input. Sometimes every last detail of input is set forth as a process, other times it's "I don't care how you do it, 'just "git 'er done!' ." In no case has the situation ever devolved into an environment where timeliness and quality standards were thrown out with the bath water. I can't imagine why one would entertain the notion that a change in process would license abandonment of standards. So, yes, even in a ROWE products and services must be delivered on time and within specs.

My parting thought is to wonder if managers of companies that adopt ROWE are up to the task of ensuring a clear explanation to those they are in charge of?

RYAN: If management isn't responsible for managing the changing course of a business and an industry, who is? Perhaps the executives at BBY can't change the river's current, but they can become better swimmers. ROWE is NOT their silver bullet. Given the condition of that particular business, there is not a silver bullet.

I certainly agree about the ROWE/silver bullet, and I concur that management is ultimately responsible for negotiating a changing environment. However, I do make a distinction between management style choices and tactical choices, i.e. product delivery systems, brick and mortar operations, technology investment choices etc. I just think the former has much less to do with their woes than the latter.

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