A panelist at the NICSA convention discussing the changing workplace and virtual teams

I arrived at the beautiful Doral Resort in Miami today (only a few hours South on the Florida Turnpike for me). It was a beautiful day in the mid 60’s and the sun was shining, so I really enjoyed the drive. I felt guilty guilty for a second getting ready this morning and watching the weather channel when I saw that it was -10 degrees with the wind chill in Boston today (the place I called home before moving to Florida). But only for a second . . . 😉

I’m speaking on a panel tomorrow at the annual NICSA convention. Our session is called Looking Forward/Looking Back: Changing Demographics in the Workplace of the 21st Century.

Our panel (which lasts an hour) will be discussing:

• How to get the best candidates
• How to integrate part-time and remote employees into the culture
• How do alternative work arrangements impact the bottom line in terms of cost savings and increased productivity?

I’m looking forward to an interesting discussion. I’ll post more on Wednesday with more info on how the panel went and a summary of best practices and lessons learned.

No more eyeball management – Best Buy’s shift in perspective about work

One of the main principles of working in The Anywhere Office™ and having the flexibility to work where and when you want is a shift in perspective about what defines “work”. As the saying goes “work is something you do, not someplace you go”.

For managers of remote workers or virtual teams the shift away from eyeball management (knowing someone is working because you see them working) and learning to gauge employee productivity by measurable goals and objectives is often one of the most difficult parts of the transition. However the more fully you can embrace this philosophy, the greater the benefit you stand to derive from a flexible workplace.

For those who think “but how could we do this in our organization” take a look at what Best Buy is doing with their new program called ROWE.

The endeavor, called ROWE, for “results-only work environment,” seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.

This is an excellent case study of this shift in perspective. I applaud their efforts and look forward to following this story as they expand this philosophy throughout their organization.

Best Buy smashes the clock – BusinessWeek Online – MSNBC.com