Winter weather is closing thousands of schools and businesses across the United States this week. This has inspired a local HR firm to ask a rather curious question.

Indianapolis-based human resource consulting firm FlashPoint posted the following message on Twitter:

That link, by the way, goes to a story from National Public Radio. But to answer the question, we do have a a telecommuting policy at Slaughter Development. The policy is:

Please conduct your work wherever and whenever you feel you can be most productive, most efficient, most effective and most satisfied.

That might sound a little bold. After all, shouldn’t employees come into the office most days? Shouldn’t they have set working hours? Shouldn’t we define what kind of work can and cannot be done from home?

The answer to all of those questions is a firm “maybe.” If there are reasons to be in the office, to work specific hours, or to specify where work should be done, it’s likely that employees will have the best perspective to generate these reasons and make sound decisions. We trust our employees to do what they believe is best for the company. Ultimately, any corporate policy is either a reminder of what everyone knows or a restriction on how people should behave.

We’re no strangers to telecommuting. Back in August, The Methodology Blog conducted Remote Work Week, a five-day series on telecommuting happiness, telecommuting research and telecommuting technology. We also covered telecommuting and personalities as well as how to approach your boss about working remotely. We shouldn’t need “policies” about getting work done. Except, perhaps a policy to trust that employees want to do good work.

Great organizations have great workplace culture. If we want employees to be innovative, we don’t need to tell them where to get their work done. Instead, we need to focus on making sure they are fully empowered to work. Brilliance comes from being unencumbered. Avoid policies in favor of freedoms. Think beyond mere control.

For more information on how to transform your workflow and your perspective, contact Slaughter Development today!

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