«
»

The Disconnect

May 7, 2010 » by Michael Barata

When people who believe they have workplace flexibility and people who want workplace flexibility talk about availability, the conversation regularly centers on disconnecting.

People who believe they have flexibility feel they can disconnect themselves from work when they choose. People who want flexibility want to have the control to disconnect themselves from work when they choose. The real question is, “Why do people want to disconnect themselves from work?” Flexibility and paid time off seem to resemble acceptable forms of work repellent, rather than ways to better manage career and life demands. The “end of the day” and weekends also serve as escapes from work.

“I don’t want to have to take a call from work while I’m on vacation!” or “When I use PTO, that’s it. I’m out. Don’t bother me!” I have been hearing statements like these for years. To me, these people have already disconnected from their work. Therefore, flexible schedules and PTO seem to reinforce barriers rather than help people achieve career success and personal fulfillment.

This is the beauty of ROWE. In a ROWE, the whole feeling towards your career and your life changes. Why? Because YOU get to decide how you can best be successful in your career and when to spend time with your family, dive into a hobbie, or even take a nap. Its not about achieving balance as much as it is about enjoying, on some level, everything you set out to do in your life. Your career becomes something you do – like doing laundry or going on vacation.

Crazy talk! Nah. Remember, ROWE changes the game of HOW we work and what we believe work should look like. Not having your dream career is one thing, but what about having your dream life? ROWE may not eliminate demands in your life, but it does raise the level of control and freedom over when, where, and how you work, grocery shop, travel to exotic get-a-ways and…………..

Today, going on vacation is an escape. Today, work ain’t work unless you are miserable. ROWE changes that. In a ROWE, you take vacations when you want to not when they are approved. In a ROWE, your work is more rewarding because you have a better understanding and appreciation for the bigger organizational picture AND you have control over how you accomplish results. So, responding to a work email while watching the sunrise on the beach feels normal. In a ROWE, work isn’t suffocating your life anymore. And again, work is simply something you do (and enjoy).

All a flexible schedule or PTO really do are disconnect you physically from work. Neither address the ongoing issues of workplace morale, engagement, personal responsibilities, or performance measurement. If these issues persist for you within your organization, a pseudo-flexible schedule or an extra vacation day will not help.

ROWE connects you to organizational expectations and to what is important to you. It just feels better too.

Tags: , ,

  • http://www.facebook.com/ResultsOnlyWorkEnvironment ROWE Fan

    YES!!!!

    Doing the work is great, but being confined and timed is miserable!

  • Barbara Saunders

    I’ve always felt this way about the idea that self-employed people must “work all the time.” (Every self-employed person gets this one from naysayers!)

    Personally I don’t necessarily mind having to put in a couple of additional hours on my bookkeeping or IT tasks if all that means is doing some data entry while I watch mindless TV in my comfortable living room.

    • Michael Barata

      Barbara-

      Great point! You write about what work can feel like – data entry in a cube 9-5 or data entry on a couch feeling all chill and watching the tube….

  • KellyK

    I think there are different ways of disconnecting, and how good or bad that is depends a lot on the situation. (I don’t think wanting to disconnect from work is all bad; sometimes it’s a way of recharging.)

    For example, I have a family member who used to be the Director of Nursing at a nursing home. She was on-call 24/7, unless she could get someone to cover for her, which rarely happened. Having to be constantly available was a big source of stress for her. There were concrete ways that this limited her life outside work–not being able to leave cell phone range or travel more than a half-hour’s drive from the facility, getting woken up at 3 AM, etc. But just the knowledge that she *could* be called any time, never getting to disconnect, was hard all by itself.

    I think being able to disconnect when you need to is a major benefit of ROWE. If you’ve just finished something stressful and you go watch a movie in the middle of the afternoon, you get to disconnect during that time.

    The difference is that people will leave you a message or talk to someone else to get what they need. I think that may be a huge part of why constant availability was a big problem for that relative. There was no contingency plan for if they couldn’t get a hold of her, so it went beyond connection into forced constant availability.

    I don’t think you need to always be connected to be engaged in your career, but the level of connection where you function the best is a very individual thing.

    • Michael Barata

      Hi Kelly-

      Thank you for the post. And I agree with you about “different ways of disconnecting”. I was focusing on the bad disconnects like, “Get me out of here!” or “My shift ends at 4:30!” or “Don’t call me on my day off!” Of course, an abundance of experiences in a one’s life could lead to a good disconnect – wedding day, skydiving, air travel, or a good ol’ fashioned nap. In a ROWE, you disconnect because something else in your life piqued your interest or needs your attention, so you go do it (as long as your work is getting done). This is different than playing that waiting game of when you are “allowed” to step away from work or before it has gotten to the point when you can’t stand another minute doing work.

      When you have more control/freedom over how you meet your demands and go after desires, a disconnect resembles a redirection of your energies v. an escape.

      As for your family member, you highlighted the real issue – no contingency plan. Bad planning on the part of that organization = stressful work arrangement for her and others, I assume.