Employees should be trusted to decide how, when, and where the work gets done. Period.
Turning the conversation into a simple "work from the office vs. work remotely" argument is totally missing the point. Telecommuting gives employees a small taste of freedom (while making bosses nervous) but it is still a system in which you're managing people, not work.
In order to truly drive results and focus on what's really important, you need to manage the work, not the people.
Telecommuting still has all the basic stone-age baggage of a traditional work environment. People are still expected to work "business hours." They still need to "check in" to show activity. They are still bound to a schedule that might define which days they get to work remotely. It's sometimes offered to a select few but not everyone. In short, telework is still a way of managing people.
ROWE is not telework. ROWE is not "working from home." ROWE is not a flexible work arrangement. A Results Only Work Environment IS NOT a Remote Only Work Environment.
If your organization has a remote work policy, a flex work policy, a compressed work week policy, or a telework policy, then the focus is on managing the people not the work. ROWE is a cultural shift that takes the focus off of managing people and places it, instead, onto managing the work. You know, the stuff that needs to get done.
We need to change the national conversation. We need to stop focusing on this short-sighted question of "should employees be allowed to work remotely?" and focus it on what matters: the work itself.
JOIN THE REVOLUTION!