Optimal Work Daily - Career, Productivity and Entrepreneurship 1884: What's a ROWE? Understanding the Results-Only Work Environment by Laura Stack of The Productivity Pro
Nov 27, 2025
Explore the innovative concept of a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), where success is based on output instead of hours logged. Learn how this approach, originally pioneered at Best Buy, enhances employee autonomy and productivity. Discover the advantages of working flexibly to achieve better work-life balance and increased job satisfaction. Plus, uncover how ROWE can lead to cost savings and lower turnover rates for organizations. It’s time to rethink the traditional workplace model!
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Work Is What You Do Not Where You Sit
- Work should be defined by output, not by where or when you sit down to do it.
- Measuring results rather than attendance reframes value and frees employees to choose effective workflows.
Best Buy Originated The ROWE Idea
- Best Buy removed restrictions on where, when, or how corporate employees worked and focused solely on results.
- That simple policy change became the origin story for the ROWE movement and influenced other organizations.
Freedom Often Boosts Productivity
- Allowing focus on results tends to increase overall productivity compared with policing hours.
- ROWE implementations showed employees often produced more once freed from attendance-based constraints.