The New Workplace
By Amit Asaravala

In the mid to late 1990s, a number of companies in Silicon Valley managed to break the traditional mold for workplaces by offering flexible hours, a casual dress code, and odd perks like free sodas and Bring Your Dog to Work Day. While the effectiveness of the latter items is questionable, companies like Netscape and Excite claim that the creation of a comfortable work environment greatly attributed to employee productivity and loyalty.

Most traditional companies, though, have not followed suit. Today's workplace has not evolved in the midst of business and technological change. Even though advances like mobile phones and the Internet allow us to communicate without respect to location, most of us are still commuting to a central building each morning, where we sit in cubicles and offices until the sun goes down.

Managers claim that they are suspicious of major changes in the current work model because it has so far produced successful companies. Many of the young companies that boast flexible work environments have not been so lucky.

The problem with comparing traditional companies with new economy companies is that it unfairly equates success with work environment. Companies with traditional work environments have failed just the same. A bad business plan is a bad business plan. On the other hand, if your company does have a sound business plan, but has hit a ceiling for one reason or another, then it's likely that a change in the workplace will help you break through.
Let Them Telecommute

The first major change that companies need to make is to be more open about telecommuting. Companies that are looking to attract and retain employees will need to open the gates. How will you stay in touch with employees who are not in the office? The solution is easy -- use a phone. Relatives at opposite ends of the world manage to stay in touch over the phone; long distance relationships have been kept alive for years over the phone; and leaders of major countries have made many key deals over phones. Why do you think your company would be the first organization to fail if employees starting dialing each other instead of walking into one another's cubicles and offices?

Most business communication consists of asking and answering questions. There is usually no reason why these exchanges need to be made in person. I find that I'm spending more and more time communicating via email these days. People are growing increasingly comfortable with email as a way to share important information and coordinate feedback. It's reaching the point where it's more efficient to send a brief message to the person in the next cubicle and let her answer it when convenient, rather than to walk over and interrupt whatever she was working on.

Make sure you maintain an accessible list of home phone numbers and email addresses for everyone who plans to work at home. Define what times people can be reached at those numbers and then put the information online, give hard copies to everyone on the team, and don't be afraid to call. People also have cell phones and may prefer to be reached that way so that they can keep the home line free for family. Similarly, people who do not have DSL lines or cable modems should have either a cell phone or a second line that is free for calls.

Should your company foot the bill for communications expenses? If you have the capital to invest in cell phones and cable modems, it might be worth it to do so in order to speed the deployment of your mobile workforce. Many cell phone providers today offer corporate discounts. If you do not have the means, then consider allowing the telecommuting option only to those employees who have their own cell phones and high-speed access at home. You might find that employees are willing to pay out of their own pockets because there are associated tax benefits for work-related expenses.

If you are about to create a new company, or if your existing company is about to change offices, do a cost comparison of giving all your employees mobile phones instead of PBX-based phones. Calculate the total cost of ownership, including what it would take to purchase and lay cable through the building, the price of all the handsets, the training fees, and number of lost work hours during the deployment phase. You might find that it's cheaper to issue cell phones instead of deal with the hassle of a PBX system.

The computer hardware investment for telecommuters is minimal. Forget about the television commercials and Jetson's animations that show people videoconferencing from home. Very few telecommuters need this capability. The technology is still in its early stages, is not cheap, and is not necessary. A computer -- either laptop or desktop -- will do just fine. If your company employs a number of high-tech workers, you'll find that many of them will already have home computers. If not, look into issuing home computers as part of your benefits package. Or issue laptops at work instead of new desktops so that, over time, you create a mobile workforce.

Keep in mind that there will always be some management issues that just can't be handled over a phone or email. You will have to bring people together from time to time to meet with clients, negotiate important deals, and even to get acquainted with new staff members. You should not discuss highly sensitive or confidential information over an ordinary phone line or Internet connection. Some disciplinary issues are also best handled in person -- for instance, when an employee consistently fails to reach performance goals. And, of course, you certainly shouldn't deal with layoffs, firings, or harassment issues over the phone or email.
Hours, not Projects

The second thing to consider when examining your workplace polices is to remember that there are reasons you pay employees a yearly salary instead of hourly wages. In exchange for security that a full time job offers the employee, your company gets a commitment that the employee will complete projects and occasionally put in some overtime hours to do so. Creating an open workplace means you must shift your thinking so that you are not paying salaried employees to work by the hour. Instead of buying the employee's time, buy the employee's knowledge. With salaried employees, you should be getting experience, expertise, and dedication to your company's success.

Strictly enforcing 9-to-5 rules, regardless of the job, sends the message that the hours are more important than the quality of the work. Companies that do this end up with workers who resent that they have to waste time in the office when there is no work to be done or when they are not motivated. Who hasn't surfed the Internet on a slow day, just waiting for quitting time? Worse yet, workers form patterns of leaving at a given time, even when they are inspired. In the end, you are paying for empty hours and failing to encourage employees to stick around when they are creative.

Concerned that employees just won't come in to work or will leave early on a consistent basis? Keep in mind that you are not removing all performance metrics, you are shifting them. Productivity is not based on attendance, it's based on the successful completion of projects. In grade school, the student who spends ten hours studying for a test may or may not get a better grade than the student who only studies four hours. The grade is based on end performance. Examine your workplace to learn if you reward performance or effort. The latter is always desirable, but without the former, your bottom line will be dismal.
Use Technology... Wisely

When redefining technology policies that pertain to the workplace, use standards-based software that does not lock you into other purchases. You need to be free to make decisions based on the needs of your business, not the requirements of previously purposed components.

I wish I could say my own workplace has been built on all the right decisions. Sometimes, matters are out of your own hands. Last year, CMP Media (which publishes Web Techniques) decided to standardize the entire company on the Lotus Notes 4.5 email and database system. The Lotus Notes server is tied to the Lotus Notes client, and our configuration has made it impossible to access email from remote locations and computers that do not have the client installed.

Every employee had to sit through two hours of training, many of them lost their old email archives, no one was able to view HTML based email, and few people now check email from home because of the complexity of configuring the remote software. Soon after the roll out, savvy employees implement their own workarounds. By having the Notes administrator forward all their email to a private, off-site POP account, they are able to check their messages with any POP-compatible client at any location.

Lotus Notes may be easy to administer and may have powerful database features, but the costs to the company have been much greater than the benefits. The purpose of this case study is not to criticize CMP's deployment of Lotus Notes, but to point out how good intentions quickly turn into problems when technology does not fit the needs of your workplace. Listen to the needs of your employees. If they need an application, make sure the implementation is easy to use and can be accessed from anywhere.
Go Home

If you give employees so much freedom, how do you know they won't abuse it? It's possible that some employees may indeed spend fewer hours working, but you must learn to change your definitions of abuse and success. Start out by trusting your employees enough to complete projects on time without needing to be micromanaged. Then set realistic milestones with each member of your staff. These will help you measure progress at important points during a project's lifetime, without requiring you to monitor each employee on a hourly or daily basis.

Measure availability when you try to contact an employee. Does the employee answer the phone during the scheduled times? Does he or she respond to urgent emails within the hour, and to all other emails by the end of the day? Be reasonable; even at home, people take lunch breaks and step away from their desks from time to time.

Good managers should also recognize that telecommuting and flex time is not suitable for all roles. Some of these are obvious -- the receptionist and mail clerk positions are tied to the location. For other roles, you will have to decide on a case by case basis. Some people in management positions have no problem staying in close contact with their staffs. Others find that they can't effectively communicate (or be available to communicate) when they are off site. The important thing to remember is that jobs are different and people are different. Tailor the solution to the situation.

Of those employees who do work at home or set their own hours, it's highly likely that you'll find many actually increase the amount of time they work, or at least the amount of work they get done in a day. They will have fewer distractions because coworkers won't stop to chat when passing by, and people will save their questions for emails and phone calls. Essentially, working from home raises the "cost of communication" just enough to filter out needless questions.

Hopefully we will begin to see more companies foster these changes soon. The workplace can't remain stagnant while technology advances. An open workplace may not save a failing company, but it will raise morale and inspire your employees to contribute their full potential.

Amit is editor in chief of Web Techniques magazine. You can contact him at amit@webtechniques.com.

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