Comments on: Why Work Sucks – The interview, part 2

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:51:39 +0000

@Julie - That is the challenge: making the work results oriented so it can be measured. That's hard work; much harder than walking around to see if people are busy.

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:51:00 +0000

@Julie - That is the challenge: making the work results oriented so it can be measured. That's hard work; much harder than walking around to see if people are busy.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:50:29 +0000

Scot – absolutely. I’d think that many, if not most, jobs could incorporate some element of ROWE. Even positions like receptionist could use it for non-phone duties. (I used to replace our receptionist on her lunch hour, and you’d be amazed what sort of busy-work they came up with for her so that she would look busy.)

Even for the toughies in there, but I’m sure there are ways to make them more pleasant and results-oriented.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:50:00 +0000

Even for the toughies in there, but I’m sure there are ways to make them more pleasant and results-oriented.

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:36:17 +0000

Julie — I agree. The book notes the setup of the corporate headquarters for Best Buy — not the retail floor, although Cali and Jody are working on some ways that this can be applied to the retail floor.

So, a receptionist — tough to do. An Administrative Assistant – not as hard to do.

Other tough ones in my opinion — call centers, medical.

But, I would not downplay the potential. Much of what passes for “needs to be in the office” is really just wanting people in the office.

Good points — thanks for commenting.

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:36:00 +0000

So, a receptionist — tough to do. An Administrative Assistant – not as hard to do.

Other tough ones in my opinion — call centers, medical.

But, I would not downplay the potential. Much of what passes for “needs to be in the office” is really just wanting people in the office.

Good points — thanks for commenting.

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:32:52 +0000

Eric — I blogged about it as well when the Best Buy article came out in Business Week. It was compelling.

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Eric — I blogged about it as well when the Best Buy article came out in Business Week. It was compelling.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:18:20 +0000

Hi, Scot. I’ve been thinking a lot about this interview over the last few days, and there are some jobs I cannot imagine being incorporated into ROWE, jobs that *require* an employee to be in the workplace at a given time.

One example might be a receptionist: unless she (or he) can figure out a way to transfer phone calls and greet clients from home, she needs to be in the office during business hours. Other examples include retail store clerks, bartenders or waitresses, and many other professions whose primary task is to be on-call when the customer wants service.

Do you have any suggestions for how these sorts of jobs could be incorporated into ROWE?

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:18:00 +0000

Do you have any suggestions for how these sorts of jobs could be incorporated into ROWE?