ROWE and freedom from time-based billing

ROWE and freedom from time-based billing

Do you bill your clients based on time? Do you ever find this to be frustrating, messy, and unpredictable? Do employees sometimes forget to track time therefore creating fire drills to catch up and reconcile billing (which takes even more time)? Does it ever cause issues or disagreements with clients? Do you wish you never had to worry about it again?

I’ve been having some interesting conversations recently with other professional services firms that bill their clients based on time. It’s interesting to me because a few years ago, SpinWeb made two very significant changes:

  1. We implemented ROWE
  2. We eliminated time-based billing

Yes, the two are related.

Pre-ROWE, we billed our clients based on time. We would do the old-fashioned dance of “hmmm… I would estimate this project at 70 hours” and then hope we  magically hit that target. We all knew we were simply making up numbers out of thin air and hoping it was remotely accurate. It was a huge pain. Every time we did this, at least one or more of these things would happen:

  1. No matter how many times we called it an “estimate,” our clients would hear a fixed price
  2. Once the invoice was sent, we would end up arguing over money (see #1)
  3. Employees would forget to track time, which caused us to lose money or spend time going back to find the hours
  4. We would be penalized for being efficient (less money)
  5. Our clients woud be penalized if we were inefficient (over-billing)
  6. We would fudge and edit time reports to avoid arguments
  7. We would spend 10% of our productive time just dealing with all the minutiae of tracking time

As you can see, time-based billing is not much fun. However, it is such an accepted norm in professional services that not many people really question it. They just accept it as “the way things are done” and continue to trudge along with all the lost productivity and pain that comes with it.

However, when we implemented ROWE at SpinWeb a few years ago, an interesting thing happened. As we eliminated time as a measurement of productivity and started focusing 100% on results, we also began to extend that mindset to our services. It became more and more ridiculous to apply time to our internal results and so we began to see how we could revolutionize our billing, as well.

Soon after implementing ROWE and using the tools from that experience, we moved to a 100% value-based billing model. No more time tracking.

It has been one of the most tremendously positive changes we have ever made at SpinWeb.

No more making up numbers. No more arguing over money with clients. No more babysitting employees to remind them to track time. No more answering questions like “how much time should I bill for this?” five times a day. No more making up different prices for each project. No more scary “estimates” that leave clients fearful of over-billing. No more being penalized for being efficient.

All these issues: gone.

Clients are happier. Employees are happier. The company is more profitable. Everyone is more productive. Best of all, we have not had a single argument over money since the switch.

I cannot stress how much of a dream it has been to move to a 100% value-based billing model. If you are still billing based on time, let me assure you that it’s possible to make the switch. If we can do it as a web services firm with lots of moving parts and complexities, I’m confident that anyone can do it.

Have you moved to value-based billing? I would love to hear your experience.

Why do I make so much noise about ROWE?

Why do I make so much noise about ROWE?

Warning: this is a very open, transparent, personal post. It’s a slightly deeper dive into my brain and my emotions than you normally get in this blog. I hope that’s ok with you. If so, read on.

So my friends all know that I work in (and own) a ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) and they are probably sick of hearing about it. When they talk about their jobs and the 9 to 5 grind, I try my best to keep my mouth shut but it’s tough. You see, I look at work from a different perspective now.

I sometimes tell people that I look back at our pre-ROWE days at SpinWeb and it seems like the Dark Ages. They laugh when I say this but I’m dead serious. It’s almost impossible to truly describe what a ROWE is like until you experience it. I thought SpinWeb was “flexible” before but after going ROWE, it was obvious that we didn’t truly get it until we went through the training. The Indianapolis Star did a nice story on this recently.

Even if you think you’re already a ROWE, you’re probably not. Trust me.

So I’m making a lot of noise about it right now to the point that I’m sure plenty of people are sick of hearing about it (sorry)! Why am I doing this?

Imagine that you lived in a town where everyone drove broken cars. Their cars were all broken because they were running on a certain type of fuel that had been around for a while but was no longer good for the engine. The fuel was no longer meeting the needs of the modern cars but that everyone just accepted this fuel as the norm. Some cars ran better than others but in general, they all puttered along, frequently broke down, and generally weren’t all that efficient. Because of this, everyone in your town was always complaining about driving and about what a chore it was to get anywhere. Then, one day, you discovered a different, newer kind of fuel that cleaned your engine, made your car more reliable, and helped it run faster. By using this fuel, your car ended up running at speeds twice as fast as all the other cars, stayed clean and efficient, and hardly ever needed repair. Suddenly you could get from point A to point B in record time and driving even became fun! Your productivity shot through the roof and no one else could keep up.

What would you do?

Well, I’m guessing you would tell everyone around you about it. Now, imagine that you started telling everyone to go buy this new type of fuel, but instead of getting excited, you got responses like “that new kind of fuel sounds scary,” and “my car would never accept it,” and “my husband/wife wouldn’t be interested in hearing about it.”

Would you start to look around in disbelief? Would you be completely baffled at the resistance? Would you have any explanation for why your friends and neighbors were not interested in getting their broken cars to run like yours?

This is exactly how I feel about ROWE. My company has been a ROWE for about three years and I cannot even begin to explain the difference. Here are some specific things that have happened since going ROWE:

  • Productivity has literally doubled (measured by number of projects completed weighed against number of people)
  • Employee retention is at an all time high
  • Employee satisfaction is at an all time high
  • Customer service is at an all time high
  • Employees are motivated to work faster and find better ways to get things done
  • Process improvement is in overdrive
  • Employees are able to spend more time with their families then ever before
  • Employees have their lives back

These things are real. These things matter. These things are good for business.

So this is why I make so much noise about ROWE. The traditional workplace is broken. Some workplaces are more broken than others, but most are basically broken. ROWE fixes it. It’s that simple and that life-changing.

ROWE is good for both employees and bosses. It’s easy to see why employees love it but bosses are frequently terrified of it. It doesn’t have to be that way. I cannot make this point enough: ROWE is good for business. It’s proven. It works.

So this is why I am co-presenting a ROWE Bootcamp in Indianapolis on September 13th. Yes, it costs money. I understand that this may seem like a deterrent to some. We are flying in Christy Runningen who is a seasoned ROWE facilitator and HR expert. We are paying for travel expenses. We are paying for materials. We are paying for support. We are putting resources into making this a fantastic training event. It takes time, effort, and money to do this but we are passionate about bringing ROWE to others because it’s simply the right thing to do.

Many other organizations have gone ROWE and are now (like me) looking around in disbelief at the traditional workplaces around them, wondering “why is everyone still working like it’s 1950?” This is why you see such passion and zeal among people who have embraced it.

So, I hope this explains why I make so much noise about ROWE and why I want to see as many open-minded, progressive, productivity-focused small businesses/departments as possible at the ROWE Bootcamp. If you’re undecided, you may want to consider attending the upcoming informational conference call. In order to make ROWE a reality, bosses need to listen, understand, and accept the training that is available. Additionally, employees need to speak up.

So forgive me if I get a little over-zealous but I wish you could see ROWE from the other side and how it truly transforms lives and businesses. And while everyone else is busy making schedules, punching the clock, and spending half the day in meetings, we’ll all be producing results like never before.

17 productivity hacks and tools that help me accomplish more

17 productivity hacks and tools that help me accomplish more

I’m a pretty busy guy. I own a web solutions firm. I run a social media and technology consulting practice. I work for a workplace productivity training company. I speak at events around the country. I volunteer on non-profit boards and committees. I write books. I travel (a lot). I serve in my church. I blog. I play the cello in a chamber music ensemble. I build e-learning communities. I also try to fit in lots of tennis and sushi, as well. My friends sometimes ask me how I get so much stuff done. Am I an obsessive workaholic? Well, yes. However, I also make use of a number of productivity hacks and tools in my life and business that help me accomplish more in less time.

Each hack on its own my not be much, but when you add up the time saved and the friction removed with each item, it quickly adds up. Here are my favorite productivity hacks and tools that help me get more done.

1. Use reQall to capture ideas. Anyone who has read “Getting Things Done” by David Allen (affiliate link) is familiar with the idea of ubiquitous capture. This is the idea that if you are equipped to record ideas and action items at all times, then you keep your brain clear for creative focus while at the same time ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. I love reQall because it lets me simply speak notes into my iPhone which are then transcribed and emailed to me for later processing.

2. Use Tungle to schedule meetings. I cannot find the words to explain how much I heart Tungle. How much time is typically wasted playing phone tag or sending emails back and forth doing the “when are you free” dance? Tungle solves all that by allowing me to book meetings in 30 seconds by sending out a link that allows others to see my open times, suggest time slots, and automatically add meetings to my calendar. I think anyone who doesn’t use Tungle is stark raving mad.

3. Use TextExpander to save typing. How often do we type the same blocks of text over and over? Meeting details, locations, addresses, messages, etc. TextExpander allows me to save commonly used blocks of text into an archive and then magically pop them into data fields with a simple shortcut. For example, my email signature becomes “ssig”, my name becomes “nname”, and my Tungle link becomes “ccal”. It saves tons of time and helps me maintain my workflow without copying and pasting things. TextExpander is for Mac only but I’m sure there is some Windows alternative out there but I wouldn’t know about that.

4. Use the same GoToMeeting details for all my meetings. Not everyone knows this but you can set up a recurring meeting in GoToMeeting and simply re-use that meeting over and over. You just schedule a meeting, check the box that says “Recurring meeting” and poof! Use the same meeting details over and over. You never have to set up another meeting again. The bonus hack with this is that I have a TextExpander shortcut set up so that when I type “ggoto” it drops in the meeting URL and other details into emails or calendar invites so I can effortlessly schedule meetings and send GoToMeeting info in a matter of seconds.

5. Follow Inbox Zero. Merlin Mann made Inbox Zero popular during a talk he gave at Google. I have since adopted and tuned the system to help me process email faster and be more productive as I manage it. It takes discipline but when I follow the system, it helps me get more done.

6. Keep up with online articles using Instapaper. I subscribe to a lot of blogs and see lots of information go across my radar on a daily basis. I love this because it keeps me informed and helps me stay in a state of continuous learning. However, if I read everything in real time I would get nothing done because I would be reading blogs and articles all day. Instead, I save interesting articles to Instapaper and then catch up with them on my iPad when I have more focused reading time, such as when I’m on a plane or winding down at night. This helps me avoid missing useful educational material while not letting the input slow me down.

7. Migrate to a Kindle. I love to read but transporting a bunch books when traveling is cumbersome. Once I went Kindle, I never looked back. For those who use the common retort “but I like the feel of a real book” I say: give the Kindle a try. Trust me. It is awesome. I love being able to carry an entire book collection with me on a tiny device that gives me the ability to choose what I want to read any time and switch books with the click of a button. And it looks and reads like real paper. The Kindle is truly a revolutionary device. Oh, and don’t waste your time on the alternatives like the Nook, etc. Go Kindle. Trust me. Since moving to Kindle, I find myself finishing more books than I ever did before.

8. Use a hands-free cellphone device. Talking on the phone can take up a good portion of my day. This includes sales calls, client meeting, returning voice mails, etc. By keeping a hand-free device handy, I can turn driving time into productive meeting time. Yes, I realize that even with a hand-free device there is still an element of distraction while talking and driving so please don’t yell at me for suggesting this. Just be careful. It’s amazing how many phone calls I can get through as I drive from one destination to another with a bluetooth headset. It’s also helpful as I walk around the office or do other non-intensive tasks. I can also get a lot of laundry folded while returning phone calls! My favorite is the Plantronics Voyager Pro+. It looks dorky but has excellent sound quality.

9. Leave actionable voicemails. How often do we play phone tag with someone by leaving voice mails that say “call me” with no additional details? Sometimes you really do need to discuss something in real time, such as sensitive or emotionally-charged issues. However, much of the time we spend too much time playing phone tag unnecessarily when we could be moving action items along by leaving better voice mails. When I leave a voice mail, I usually leave very specific details that give the other person information on exactly what needs to be done. Sometimes I can leave a message that simply answers the question clearly and specifically. Other times I leave details on where the information can be found online. I will sometimes even briefly offer multiple options/answers for different scenarios. The point is, I leave details that are useful to the other person, rather than just saying “call me back.”

10. Convert “coffee meetings” to video conferences. If you do a lot of networking like I do, you probably get asked to “get together for coffee” quite a bit. While there is nothing wrong with having coffee (or in my case, a smoothie) with people, a lot of the time these are simply exploratory meetings that may or may not be a good use of your time. If I said yes to every request to get together for coffee, I would be spending all my time driving to Starbucks. So if someone asks me to have coffee as a “get to know you” meeting, I suggest that we do a short video conference (or phone call) instead. This helps keep the meeting short and more actionable. There is something about meeting at a coffee shop that seems to make meetings last longer and lack focus but a video conference or phone call tends to be a medium more conducive to a clear agenda and an actionable conversation. With so many options for video conferencing, like Skype, GoToMeeting, and Google+, there is really no excuse to avoid it. If both parties don’t have a webcam, do a phone call instead.

11. Use Highrise for a CRM. Just about all organization need a good CRM to keep track of contacts and opportunities. Highrise is the best CRM I’ve found for those needing something simple and easily accessible. The thing about Highrise that makes me productive is the fact that it removes friction from the process. I’ve used CRMs in the past that required me to log in, paste in notes, click a bunch of buttons, and generally jump though hoops to get things done. This either caused me to waste time in the application, or not use it all all, which is even worse. Highrise makes tracking communication almost effortless. I can Bcc my Highrise dropbox to record correspondance, I can set up opportunities in a couple of clicks, and I can set up tasks and reminders in seconds. Additionally, I can record voice notes using the iPhone app and append them to contacts while on the go. This saves me even more time.

12. Manage my social networks with HootSuite. I have profiles on all the major social networks and I also manage accounts for a few other organizations. HootSuite lets me manage them all in one place. It also lets me schedule certain posts using an editorial calendar which lets me focus my time and accomplish more by batching my distribution and block scheduling when I work on my social marketing.

13. Store receipts in the cloud with Shoeboxed. I used to hang on to business receipts and then toss them all into a big file cabinet periodically. Then, if I ever needed them again it would be a nightmare since I had no real filing system. It was also annoying to hang on to all that paper while traveling. Now, I simply scan business receipts using the Shoeboxed app on my iPhone, discard the paper, and all my receipts are now stored in a nice, organized, searchable database online. This saves time and effort, not to mention storage space. Shoeboxed saves me even more time when I want to create an expense report. I just select the receipts I want to include and it generates an accountant-friendly expense report in seconds.

14. Manage personal finances using Mint. I think Mint is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s a personal finance app that lets you bring all your accounts into one dashboard, manage budgets, and track spending with a few clicks. It eliminates the need for budget spreadsheets, recording transactions, and doing math (gasp!) to get an analysis of your finances. Mint keeps it all in one place and even has a mobile app for when you’re on the go. Mint saves me incredible amounts of time on personal finances.

15. Use OpenTable to schedule dinner appointments. Ok, so this is not always a problem but I do sometimes spend more time than I want to when I’m trying to set up a dinner appointment and I go through the routine of choosing restaurant options, calling around to see who has reservations available, and getting it booked. Rather than go though that routine, I pull up the OpenTable app on my iPhone, let it locate me and suggest restaurants near me, and then choose from available reservation times to book my dinner appointment. It all gets done in a matter of seconds. OpenTable does save a little bit of time but for me it’s more about eliminating friction from the process.

16. Keep a todo list in Backpack. Like Highrise, Backpack is a 37 Signals product and it’s slick. It’s a super-simple todo list, note taking app, and simple project storage system. I organize my todo lists by context (calls, blogs, errands, etc.) and then use the iPhone app to track items throughout the day. Backpack gives me a one-stop repository for all my todo lists and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

17. Shop for household supplies with Alice. I hate going to the store. For this reason, I love Alice. When I’m about to run out of an item like paper towels, deodorant, or toothpaste, I simply scan the product barcode with the Alice app on my iPhone to add it to my shopping cart. Then, once I reach a critical mass of items, I place the order with a few clicks and a big blue box containing my items appears on my doorstep a few days later. It’s like magic! I cannot even begin to add up how much time I’ve saved by eliminating shopping trips since using Alice.

These are some of the productivity hacks and tools that help me get more done in the limited time I have. Do you have any favorite techniques that work well for you? Please share below.

Gift the gift of ROWE to your employees this year

Since it’s the holiday season, many business owners and managers are looking for the perfect gift for their employees. Some will give money (always a good thing!), some will give other gifts, but I wonder how many will give the best give of all: giving their employees their lives back.

This year, I challenge all business owners and managers to give the gift of ROWE to your employees. Here is how you do it in three easy steps:

  1. Buy and read the book “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It” by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson
  2. Call me (317.324.1100) so I can tell you more about it and what the next steps are
  3. Start the migration process and have a blast

That’s it. By all means, give money to your employees, give gifts, and show appreciation for a job well done. However, make your first priority to learn more about ROWE. This is the greatest gift you can give your hardworking team.

Will you accept the challenge?

What happens to ideas in a ROWE?

There are many great things about working in a ROWE. Employees have control over their lives, efficiency becomes a priority, and work is rewarded on merit. However, often times management or company ownership is less excited about a ROWE because they fear it can lead to loss of control and “chaos”.

It’s actually quite the opposite. A ROWE leads to an empowered workforce that is eager to create and implement new ideas. Things often move much faster in a ROWE, as well.

Here is a recent example at SpinWeb. It was late Friday afternoon and I got a call from our VP of Sales, Arrick. He had an idea that we should help out with Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October). We talked for a few minutes and he ran some ideas by me. By Monday, we had launched a Twitter campaign to help raise awareness for breast cancer research and to help raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

In a traditional company, most employees would have thought “it’s Friday at 5pm, I’m done!” and would not have even bothered to share the idea. It might have gotten discussed by scheduling a big meeting on Wenesday or later in the week so that it could be discussed face-to-face with management. By this point, a week of fund raising would have been lost and the idea may have gotten shelved.

Since SpinWeb is a ROWE, it happened a bit differently. After talking over the idea with Arrick, I made a decision that it was a good concept and encouraged him to run with it. He worked on some design elements over the weekend, I wrote up a blog post on Saturday, and by Monday we had launched the campaign. It’s now raising money.

We didn’t care about work hours, locations, or having meetings. We simply ran with a good idea and got it done. This is the sort of thing that happens in a ROWE. Ideas happen anytime and anywhere. Work happens anytime and anywhere. Results happen anytime and anywhere.

Isn’t it time you thought about becoming a ROWE?

So you think you’re in a ROWE?

So you think you’re in a ROWE?

SpinWeb became a ROWE a few years ago. Since then, we have enjoyed a happier workplace, more balanced lives, and dramatically improved productivity. From my perspective, ROWE is to the traditional workplace as the Renaissance is to the Dark Ages. I look back on our pre-ROWE work environment and I actually feel embarrassment at how we ran things. I feel the need to apologize to my employees for the senseless way we ran the company. Unfortunately, it happens to be the way most companies today still do things.

The good news is, we are a now in a ROWE and life is good. However, when I describe our company and ROWE to others, I sometimes get interesting reactions. Aside from all the predictable “That would never work in my company” reactions, I sometimes hear things like “Oh, that sounds like my company… we’re already a ROWE.”

Really?

It’s easy to hear a few things about ROWE and then declare that your company is already a ROWE, but in most cases that’s not quite the case. When people claim they are already in a ROWE, it’s usually because they have a “flexible schedule,” or the option to telecommute. This does not mean that your company is a ROWE. Let’s look at a few indicators. These apply to all employees in the organization.

If you have to ask permission or even notify someone when you work from home or will not be in the office, you are not in a ROWE.

If you have a quota of sick, personal, or vacation days, you are not in a ROWE.

If you get the evil eye from your boss or from co-workers when you don’t come into the office for a while, you are not in a ROWE.

If you are expected to be available or in the office during a core set of “business hours,” you are not in a ROWE.

If you don’t feel like you can decline a meeting with your boss or with co-workers, you are not in a ROWE.

If you would get in trouble for sleeping until noon on a weekday, you are not in a ROWE.

If the freedoms of a ROWE are only available to management or a select few, then you are not in a ROWE.

If you don’t feel like you can leave at 2pm for a matinee movie without asking permission, you are not in a ROWE.

If any of these apply to your company, then I would encourage you to re-think your work environment. Are you really in a ROWE? If so, great! If not, Let’s talk. ROWE will change your life.

As always, comments are welcome. Are you in a ROWE?

In a ROWE, every day is a snow day

Remember snow days? As a kid, the first big snow of the season was an eagerly-anticipated gift because it could mean that school was canceled, which would be followed by sleeping in, sledding, and other recreational hi-jinks. As we got older, snow days started to affect us in different ways. As employees, snow days could be dreadful because we were still required to drive to an office, which meant getting up earlier for the dangerous commute so we could get to work on time. Or perhaps we had a “flexible” boss who said we could stay home as long as we were working during business hours. The temporary telecommuting was mixed with pangs of guilt as we tried to make sure we looked busy by sending lots of emails and making phone calls while watching TV. Or perhaps the grumpy manager-types among us would become annoyed at the employees who were not committed enough to make the drive to work in the snow. Wow… so much drama and anxiety over some beautiful snow!

As I sit in my cozy living room by the fireplace, I am enjoying the minor snowstorm we’re having here in Indianapolis. Every time we get a good solid snow here, it seems to play havoc with the typical workday. Why? Because most companies in Indianapolis are still stuck in the 8-5, 40-hour week mindset. Because of this, we have things like “rush hour” and “commutes” which become worse during inclement weather. The Mayor of Indianapolis is even urging workers to “leave early” or “stay late” to avoid hitting rush hour in the snow.

In contrast, SpinWeb is a ROWE, which means that we are absolutely unaffected by this lovely day of snow. Why? Because we focus on results, not time or physical location. We have 10 employees but only two of us even showed up at the office today and it was just to briefly pick something up. No one “checked in” at 8am. No memo was sent out urging employees to leave early to avoid rush hour. It simply was not an issue. Emails were sent to clients, conference calls were held, websites were being built, and work got done – just like any other day. I’m sure many of our employees slept in and enjoyed some coffee by their own fireplaces as they watched the snow. Since our phone system is cloud-based, those who called our office got a live person who helped direct their calls to the appropriate person’s cell phone, just like any other day. The technology exists to allow us to break free of the need to sit at a desk with a hardwired phone. With laptops, cell phones, and the right infrastructure in place, we can operate with extreme flexibility under any conditions at at any hour of the day or night.

In a ROWE, the company focuses primary on one thing: what gets done. It doesn’t matter when it gets done, where it gets done, or much time is spent on it. What matters is that work is getting done correctly and on time. Employees take control of their own time and their own lives and everybody wins. That brings some excitement and enjoyment back into work, doesn’t it?

When you work in a ROWE, every day is a snow day. Enjoy!

Does Your Commute Suck? Go ROWE!

Today’s blog from Cali and Jody was awesome. It is titled “Does Your Commute Suck?” and touches on some things that are extremely broken about today’s traditional workplace. We migrated to a ROWE at SpinWeb last year and we have been very happy with the results. We no longer talk about hours or work schedules or “making up time”. We focus on the work. We focus on making our clients happy. We focus on the things that are important.

After some recent meetings with Cali and Jody and some great discussions about bringing ROWE to the masses, I am now authorized to facilitate ROWE migrations for businesses that would like to take the plunge. So many companies and their employees could benefit from this adaptive change and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to help others through a migration.

ROWE is not telecommuting, flex hours, or working from home. ROWE is an adaptive, cultural change. Did I mention that ROWE increases productivity?

If you are interested in migrating your business to a ROWE and enjoying the benefits it brings, I would love to hear from you.

SpinWeb Featured on ROWE Blog

SpinWeb was featured on the ROWE blog today:

Cali and Jody » Blog Archive » The ROWE List.

Very exciting! We have been thrilled since migrating to ROWE and it’s great to be featured on the blog. Thanks, Cali and Jody!