As long as the work gets done, gets done in a timely manner, is quality work and keeps the ledgers on the profit side – do you care where your employees are or when they work? If so, why?
Despite the fact you really couldn’t call what I do “playing golf,” it is what I set out to do with a long time girlfriend yesterday. A quick nine holes to catch up on the last twenty years or so. I have a golf bag filled with clubs I have no idea how to use, plenty of balls to donate up to the lake gods and my entire productivity suite with me – my iPhone. In between fishing balls out of the lake and wandering through the high grass, I could check email, tweet on Twitter, post and comment on Facebook, link up on LinkedIn and answer to all the needs of my clients and family.
Except one. So, I picked up the phone and called Allen Caudle, COO of Vollmer Public Relations, my biggest and ‘bestest’ client. Explaining that “my hands are freezing on the golf course and I can’t type that many letters right now,” I responded to his query verbally (what a concept.) He laughed, we discussed his question and decided a course of action, and I went off to hit more balls in the water with a satisfied client back at the office.
Heading home from the course, I called my managing partner to see how speech bookings were coming for the next couple of months (fine, thank you for asking.) It was obvious she was outside and not somewhere quiet. ”I’m at the zoo. I needed to see the seals.” I told her I would call back or email later.
As I hung up, that exchange made me smile and laugh. Sometimes you just need to see the seals or find your golf ball. Clear your mind, smile and laugh, relax a little – and then go back to the grind. We’re all better for it.
So, I repeat my initial question – as long as the work gets done, gets done in a timely manner, is quality work and keeps the ledgers on the profit side – why do you care where your employees work or when they work just so long as they work?
When is the last time you sent your employees to the zoo?
