This February, the good people at Inc. tried an experiment. The magazine’s 30 editors, reporters and producers created the April issue virtually. There was one all-staff meeting–which took place at editor Jane Berentson’s home–but otherwise they rejected the trappings of the traditional workplace. The magazine’s offices in downtown Manhattan stayed resolutely empty.

The New York Times and public radio’s finance show Marketplace have both delivered positive reports, although if you ask us the external validation is unnecessary. For us the biggest thumbs-up to Inc.’s adventures in non-traditional work is that the magazine came out on time and is of the same quality as their other issues.

We’re also pleased to hear Berentson connecting the experience with larger changes in the overall culture of work. When Marketplace host Kai Ryssal brings up the common objection that collaboration is frustrated when people work virtually, Berentson gives the right answer:

It absolutely goes both ways. I know that I do have a tendency to leave my office and walk through the office, making comments or interrupting people. And they’re all very good natured about it, but I think there are probably times when they just wish I would just stay in my office — or excuse me, not come to work in the first place.

She also does a good job fending off assumptions that work done from home isn’t real work:

Ryssdal: You know, when you hear the phrase “Oh, he’s working from home today,” there’s a little thing that runs through your mind that says, “Oh come on. How much work can you really get done at home. ‘Cause the dog has to go out, the kids have to get to school and you have to do this, the garbage is coming… Seriously, really, you’re working from home?”

Berentson: I think there’s a prejudice that goes around that phrase, because I think that it has been a signal of “no, you do have things to do and you’re not really going to work.” So you have to take on good faith, if you’re going to do something like this, that when someone says they’re working from home, they really mean they’re working from home. And I would say our experience indicated that actually people worked much harder at home than they do in the office, because they would get into a zone and keep working. And I think this was true to a lot of the writers on staff.

Turning to the Times piece, we’d like to recognize the fact that for Inc. this experiment wasn’t easy. The people at Inc. found themselves plunged in a more results-based culture without any kind of training or support. And yet as we’ve seen with ROWE sites, this shouldn’t be a deterrent.

Away from the office, some staff members struggled to adjust, [senior writer Max] Chafkin said, as minor technical hiccups arose and parents working at home had to find ways to separate their work from their children. But in the end, most employees discovered that they could and should work out of the office more often — though they did not want to eliminate the office entirely.

Mr. Chafkin, 27, who has been at the magazine since 2005, found himself working more hours than usual in February and pining for the company of his colleagues.

“I was way more productive, but way less happy,” he said. “I think one of the reasons people get into magazines is that it’s collaborative.”

What’s important to note here is that Chafkin isn’t wrong about wanting to be with people. In a Results-Only Work Environment, if he wants to have face-to-face collaboration then that is one of many tools at his and his colleague’s disposal. The point of a ROWE is that no one way of working is enforced.

Final thought:

While we applaud Inc.’s experiment, we feel it’s vital that people understand that the goal of this new way of working isn’t to be virtual. If you force people to work remotely then you are just as guilty as a traditional work environment is of forcing people to be in the same place.

The goal of ROWE is to empower people. If people have control over their time, then they will do what’s best for the business and what’s best for themselves. So kudos to Inc. and here’s to them taking the next step in their workplace evolution.