Since the distant-worker project was a public work-in-progress, Julie had had plenty of time to line up all the reasons it wouldn’t work in engineering, Josh listened and then focused on how much her own workload would increase when Warren left and how great it would be to have Ashok back again—two statements of absolute fact with which Julie didn’t argue.Josh stressed Julie’s ability to communicate clearly, her openness concerning information flow and that these were people whose skills and capabilities she knew well.

He teased her about being a user technophobe, and promised her that she would receive as much training as she needed/wanted to assure her user comfort.

He also said that he was counting on her to evaluate the new products, hardware and software, necessary to make the program work.

Julie still fretted. She said that if the plan made sense she would deal with her own feelings of discomfort, but she was very concerned as to what the impact it could have on the rest of the team. Since she would have no way of knowing what hours Warren or Ashok put in or when/where they were working, how would the others feel about having to come to the office? Although there was some telecommuting, it was for specific reasons, such as weather, family illness, etc.

Josh said he understood because the internal effect was the first stumbling block he’d identified and addressed. Julie asked how. Josh explained that his goal was to radically change their workplace along the lines of what was being done at Best Buy.

He wanted to develop a culture of accountability, grounded in trust that, he believed, would give them an enormous competitive edge for the talent they needed to grow, both now and in the future. He believed that it would be easier to develop and implement the program while the company was young.

Josh went on to say that he didn’t want to be forced to choose between hiring a world-class candidate with an expensive relocation and a less-qualified candidate who was local. He also didn’t want to keep losing the great employees they’d already invested in because they moved.

Once all the concerns she voiced were addressed, Julie finally admitted that she didn’t have enough confidence in her own management skills to succeed. Josh reminded her that she’d said the same thing every time she’d been promoted; she knew that he never tossed someone in the managerial pool to sink or swim and he wasn’t about to start now. This would be a learning experience for all of them—managers and staff—he knew they’d make mistakes, but believed that together they would make it a success.

Continued Monday…

Company culture is a reflection of the MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) of the CEO, or the founding team in a startup. It typically isn’t a product of HR, and it certainly isn’t created and implemented by a couple of HR types in stealth mode—until now.

But that’s just what’s been happening at giant Best Buy since 2003.

The program is called ROWE (results-only work environment) and was conceived of, and developed by, HR mangers Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, who recognized that the main thing that “presence” and “productivity” have in common is that they both start with a “p.”

Since the idea of telecommuting surfaced, nearly 25 years ago, there has always been tremendous resistance by managers, based in fear, to the idea that people can be productive outside of the boss’ sight. This is well summed up by the attitude of the general manager of BestBuy.com, senior vice-president J. T. Thompson, “who was privately terrified about the loss of control” when he first heard about ROWE. The difference is that Thompson dealt with his fear, took the risk, and is reaping the reward.

How big a reward? “Best Buy notes that productivity is up an average 35% in departments that have switched to ROWE. Employee engagement, which measures employee satisfaction and is often a barometer for retention, is way up too, according to the Gallup Organization, which audits corporate cultures.”

In fact, ROWE is a subculture, possible only because of the overall culture fostered by CEO Brad Anderson, who encourages “bottom-up, stealth innovation.” Anderson and his team believe in ROWE so much that “they have formed a subsidiary called CultureRx, to help other companies go clockless.”

If you want, or are developing, a remote work function in your own company, remember that you can adopt best practices, tweak them for your company, announce and promote them, but if your MAP doesn’t support them the results will range from blah to dismal.

To avoid that, first answer these questions

• Can you deal with the fear of letting go/loss of control?
• Is your self esteem tied to the visible number of your reports or to what they accomplish?
• Do you believe that what’s important is that the work gets done well, not where or how it happens?
• Do you equate visible body count to your power within the company.
• Do you believe that people are intelligent, motivated and really care about their company’s success, OR that they are stupid, lazy, don’t care and that you need to watch them every minute if anything is going to get done?
• Being brutally honest with yourself—How much of a micromanager are you?

Next, modify your MAP as desired. However, when considering the rest of the management team, remember that although MAP can be changed, those changes must originate internally and can’t be forced on someone else.

Then lay out your plan and go for it!