To the OP - your company sounds great! I'm guessing you don't want to reveal the name, but can you at least share the industry? Are you hiring?

Anonymous wrote:

Well some of us can't take the work home as that is not a a place to keep sensitive information or send it over email.

Aren't there methods of addressing this? I know my husband has one laptop for classified info and one for non-classified info.

Not PP. There are some solutions to accessing confidential data from outside of the office, but not all data owners agree to those solutions. For example I am a government contractor for a consulting firm and sometimes it's a struggle to get approval to use research data in our actual office (e.g., you may only access the data on site of the client, not even in the company office), so to get agreement to work outside the office would be practically impossible. For other projects though, there are secure VPNs, etc.

I can't stand reporting to an office, sitting in meetings, clocking in and out. So I started my own business.

I do exactly what I would as an employee, but from home in my pjs whenever I want. I'm judged on the quality of my work, not when I arrive in the morning.

I will never go back.

Anonymous wrote:

Well some of us can't take the work home as that is not a a place to keep sensitive information or send it over email.

Aren't there methods of addressing this? I know my husband has one laptop for classified info and one for non-classified info.

If I take the work laptop out of the office (and not to another approved office) ill be in big trouble

I totally agree OP. it is enormously frustrating to me.

Well some of us can't take the work home as that is not a a place to keep sensitive information or send it over email.

Aren't there methods of addressing this? I know my husband has one laptop for classified info and one for non-classified info.

Well some of us can't take the work home as that is not a a place to keep sensitive information or send it over email.
I do agree with the OP that so much can be moved to a deliverable and product concept instead of face time. Unfortunately you need really good managers to structure that and be secure in letting their employees accomplish tasks without micromanaging.
On the other hand, I do enjoy the flexibility of going to a colleagues office and discussing a challenge and drawing on the whiteboard, easier than email for me but that may be the type of industry I'm in.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with 10:12. Probably less than half of employees in my org cannot work independently, or have jobs that require they are physically present due to the nature of the job.

The idea that all, or even most, employees are capable of sustained output while at home is silly. Most employees are just that--employees. They work hard, but you must hold them accountable.

OP here. Who said anything about not holding employees accountable?? They are in fact MORE accountable, because they can't point to all that dedicated coming in early and staying late to get them through a rough review. It is only the work that matters. And I think you might be surprised how many people would step up to the challenge, in order to have this level of freedom. In any case, folks CAN choose to work from the office, for the parts of their job that require that, or for the structure that it offers. In my company, I'd say three-quarters of our staff is in the office at least three days out of five, during "normal" work hours. A couple are there every day, without fail. A lot of us find it valuable to get away from the house. For my own job, I need certain physical files that live in the office, so I'm in about every other day.

Also, you will attract a better quality of employee if you show that you respect and trust them to deliver. You can get rid of those that are basically just warming a chair, and replace them with people who work.

OP, I agree with you completely!

Anonymous wrote:I agree with 10:12. Probably less than half of employees in my org cannot work independently, or have jobs that require they are physically present due to the nature of the job.

The idea that all, or even most, employees are capable of sustained output while at home is silly. Most employees are just that--employees. They work hard, but you must hold them accountable.

I guess this depends on the nature of your work, so I can't judge whether you are presumptuous or correct. I am a law firm lawyer and yes, we could all work from home.

I think some telework is a great benefit and can actually improve productivity. I know that on my telework day, I crank through the writing portion of my job because I am not interrupted by office chat, interruptions etc. I do think that some office days are important to collaborate and keep up a relationship with collegues. So my vote would be some telework each week - yes. 100 percent telework - no.

My organization works extremely collaboratively. Doing our jobs well is absolutely reliant on interacting with each other. And we are not the kind of place where you just "turn in your (own) work."

So, we must have some kind of coordinated work week.

We offer very flexible hours. Not weekends, but individual employee schedules include 7:30-3:30; 8:30-4:30; 9:00-5:00; 10:00-6:00.

We have people who telework 1, 2, and 3 days/week.

That gives a core period of time - between 10:00am and 3:30pm on at least 1 or 2 days/week when we can schedule (formal or informal) meetings and get the right people in the room together.

I agree with 10:12. Probably less than half of employees in my org cannot work independently, or have jobs that require they are physically present due to the nature of the job.

The idea that all, or even most, employees are capable of sustained output while at home is silly. Most employees are just that--employees. They work hard, but you must hold them accountable.

I was a manger for 20+ years and also teleworked 1-2 days a week for the last 3 yrs.

You can't lose sight of the fact that some employees cannot work independently and not everyone is capable of teleworking productively.

So managers must be able (have the backbone and support of their managers) to tell some people "no", and deal with the issues that come with that.

Other than that I generally agree with you, but most/too many managers are not very enlightened and are control freaks so are stuck in the "if I can't see you I can't trust you" mode.

I was going to reply to the thread about feminist bosses and teleworking mothers, but honestly, this deserves its own thread.

Why are we still doing this? Why are we still tying employees to a physical place, and a set 40 hours? Why are we measuring their performance based on time in the chair, getting in early, staying late? Shouldn't we be looking at accomplishments, instead of time? Shouldn't we be providing for and encouraging every kind of work, to get the best outcome? Because there is NO WAY that every person in every office delivers their best product between the hours of 9 and 5, and that it takes them 40 hours, no more and no less, to get through it.

Of course there are many industries for which it wouldn't work (retail, anything customer service oriented), but for the vast majority of DC professionals, WHY ARE YOU PUTTING UP WITH THIS?? Will your work be of lesser quality if you do it on a Sunday morning? Will the whole place come crashing down if you aren't in your cube at predictable times, even if you ARE reachable by email, phone, IM, or text?

At my company, we just... work. We do our work as we see fit. If that means in the office, ok. If that means sitting in McPherson Square, ok. If it means that no one ever sees your face because you complete all your work between midnight and 5am, this does not matter. I've never waited for a response to an email more than 24 hours. Never once. Can't say the same about previous places I've worked where everyone was in a specific place at a specific time. No one is ever resentful. No one ever questions their colleagues whereabouts or makes snide remarks about their dedication. Everyone is VERY motivated to keep up with the work, to keep the freedom. Oh, and that 40 hours thing (or 50 or whatever)? No. No such thing. If you have 20 hours of work this week, you did your work and you're done. If it takes you 60 hours to get it all done, well, that's your job.

Time for a revolution, folks. Those of you in management positions need to stop controlling employees' bodies (the when and where of it), and judge employees on the work they turn in, not on the time they spend in their chair or the number of meetings they attend. I swear to you this works. My company has been doing it for over a year, and we're more productive and happier than ever. We haven't lost a single employee in the last year, even though I know that a few were offered higher salaries elsewhere. We are openly admired by all our industry colleagues; one company is making the switch this summer, based on our success.

It's a new world. Let's try to close down the factory mentality.