editorials

The middle ground is probably some blend of telecommuting and working in the office. The telecommuting advocates don't seem to understand the value of hallway conversations and frank assessments. It takes pages of writing to communicate what can be said in a 2 minute conversation. Further, you can get a truthful answer in a direct encounter because people will censor themselves in on-line conversations, since we know words live on forever on the web.

Best Buy's layoffs already encouraged good employees to leave. Now they are holding open the door. Say goodbye to your best and brightest.

I speak for all when I say it's time to end this fad. No more freeloaders.

ROWE was a disaster from day one - productivity will increase over night. might even see some cars there on a Friday afternoon

This may come as a shock but Best Buy can do whatever they want becuase they own the company. What would you think of a work from home Police squad? Go to a gas station and wait for somehome to show up? People don't always do their best at home and the work ethic at work can be measured and monitored. Public Opinion? HA!

FrankL: Not much to add, he nailed it. When the people you need to get your work done are regularly not at their desk or in the office, you end up writing more emails. In most cases a two minute conversation on the phone or in person can take 10x longer to type in an email and then there tend to be more follow-up emails taking more time. In an environment where collaboration and team work are a must to succeed telecommuting just doesn't work well. When someone's work style begins to have a deleterious impact on other, that's not working for everybody. That said, I don't think this policy means people will not be offered flexibility due to a sick child, bad roads or other legitimate reasons for working remotely. It just can't be the norm, especially when you're trying to turn around a company be it Yahoo or Best Buy.

FrankL Mar. 5, 13 10:19 PM The middle ground is probably some blend of telecommuting and working in the office. The telecommuting advocates don't seem to understand the value of hallway conversations and frank assessments --- Really depends on your position and responsibilities. I work for a small IT group that supports other groups in multip[le cities. We each are working on different things so communication is infrequent. With groiups in various cities most is done via email, IM , or phone. Working from home actually has resulted in more work because most of us take advantage and work later. We all do come in periodically for group meetings

Everyone on here is missing the point. The article that was posted on this subject yesterday had a quote from CEO Joly that sums up everything. In referencing those that work for Best Buy he said "You need to feel disposable as opposed to indispensable". While no one should feel entitled, you also shouldn't feel disposable.

I agree, it was a bad idea for most people. Some people it works for. An example,if a person has the kids at home they are not paying attention to their work.

Letting employees take complete control of their schedule, I agree, is probably what needed to change. I don't think working at home creates a problem. I work from home and it is not much different than being in the office. We have set lunch and break times, need to sign in so all employees can access us readily, etc. I love that it saves so much time (no commute,or gossipy chit chat). I realize what a great benefit this is, so it makes me strive to work harder and better. I don't miss anything about being in the office.