[MattRogish]

+1 for ROWE. We love/use ROWE, too, but building a gel'd team is greatly accelerated by face to face contact. We're experimenting with some Results that are tied to face-to-face contact (show up for team dinner, lunch 2x a week, etc.) that requires folks to show up. But, that feels pretty forced. I'd love to hear other experiences with ROWE and actually having face-to-face contact.

[jscheel]

In my experience ROWE has been a pretty great success. It's really beneficial for people who are problem-solvers, not time-clock monkeys. One of the most important aspects of successfully implementing ROWE is accountability and awareness. First, you have to have some metric to know if results are actually being produced. Second, your team needs to know what the metric is, so that they properly manage their time. Also, having some times where people are in the office together is really helpful for that face-to-face aspect. Company meetings, beer Friday, etc. all work well. Some people may prefer to have a minimum amount of time you should be in the office (maybe 25%). I would not suggest having company-mandated fun time though. It's not fun time when it's required. Last thing I'll say is, if you don't have accountability and awareness, people can coast for a long time without you knowing. Regular checkups will keep everybody on the same page, and identify problems quickly.