ROWE at Ripple
At Ripple we wake up, each team has a morning video conference, and then we begin working. No more rushing out the door in the morning just to waste time we could be working in long hours of traffic. If you forget something simply walk over and get it then continue working. If you're feeling sick or you need to pick up your kids from school simply do whatever it is you need to do. There is so much less hassle, more freedom, and in turn so much less stress!
On the professional side, ROWE puts productivity and time management into the hands of each employee and in turn ROWE workers get a lot more done. Our success is based on the outcome of our work, so we want to work hard for our company and if we have an idea at 8pm we can just get up and go put it into action. We have a lot more time to spend efficiently and our company saves money and time doing things this way.
What is ROWE?
ROWE is a management style, based on the book "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It.", by CultureRx, in which success is measured on results vs hours worked. In this method of working employees can work when and where they're most creative and efficient.
Pros:
- ROWE Workplaces save money on physical space, because our workers can work from anywhere and don't have to come into the office to be productive.
- Employees are healthier and take less sick days because they can get more rest and are less stressed.
- ROWE Employees have an easier time balancing work and their personal lives.
- ROWE helps the environment and saves company and employee money by cutting down unnecessary commuting and energy usage.
- ROWE increases productivity because employees are able to work when and where they want.
- Companies using ROWE have reported an increase in productivity!
Cons:
- Employees who find it hard to self discipline, might take advantage of the model.
- Management, communication, and balance can be hard to achieve.
- ROWE doesn't work for some job titles such as manual labor and retail associates unless their jobs can be completed effectively remotely.
Rowe, Ripple, and COVID-19
This way of life has made transitioning into the current state of COVID-19 not as harsh on us. We're used to doing things this way and we're set up for it. Even before this pandemic, it seemed like working remotely had become more and more important and we were proactive on setting up our teams to work from anywhere they want whenever they want.
That being said, we want to share our knowledge with our community and this is a great way to keep you and your team's heads above water in this new environment.
How to Manage a ROWE Team
Here's a great video from "Running Remote" with 21 Essential Rules for Managing your Remote Team and staying productive! He covers topics like Slack (a chat program for staying connected with remote coworkers), and Zoom (for video conferencing), Google docs, usage of the cloud, how and when to have virtual meetings, and how to keep up with and reach your goals as a company. We use the majority of the programs and processes he covers at Ripple as well!
Bye for now and good luck out there!
