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The entire work environment also changes. At Best Buy, for example, you don’t see the five o’clock exodus that you see at most companies. There isn’t that feeling at four forty-five that the horses are in the gate ready to sprint toward freedom. People come and go with confidence because they know they aren’t being judged on time. You don’t strut in “early” with pride or slink out “late” with shame.

This change takes some time and effort. If it’s one o’clock and one of your coworkers shows up for the first time that day, at first it may be hard not to Sludge them. It’s also hard to be the only person on your team who’s in the office for an entire afternoon. You can’t help but wonder if people who aren’t present are using their time wisely. Managers can have an especially difficult time not Sludging based on the clock because keeping an eye on people (and the clock) was traditionally part of their job.

Letting go of the clock can also be difficult because we’ve traditionally used time to measure fairness. If so-and-so gets to work a shorter day than I do, then so-and-so is getting preferential treatment. So-and-so is the Golden Child who gets to do whatever he wants because obviously the sun rises and sets on his every move. And that’s not fair.

But if no one can be considered late and no one can be considered as leaving early, then time loses its power.

In a ROWE you don’t use time to judge your own performance.

In a ROWE you don’t use time to judge your coworkers’ performance.

In a ROWE managers can’t use time as a means of controlling their employees.

In a ROWE control over one’s time is no longer a perk for the select few.

The way to promote this new sense of time and to eliminate the old is through very open and transparent Sludge Eradication. In the beginning a lot of teams make a bit of a game out of Sludge Eradication. People call out their coworkers for Sludge and since it’s everywhere every day, this can almost become a sport. “You’re Sludging me, Jan!” and “I caught that remark about how long my lunch was, Bob!” Even though this sounds like a small thing, just the fact that anyone has the power to call out anyone else for Sludge based on time is a big deal. And as long as you’re getting results you can wield this power without shame or embarrassment. Everyone knows that standing up for the work (and not tolerating discussions about time) is part of what makes a ROWE.

Any employee at any level can call out any employee at any other level for Sludge. So in those early days when people are still commenting on when people are coming and going, or bemoaning availability, it becomes extra important that people speak out, even if it comes across badly. Over time teams develop ways of monitoring their Sludge production in a way that’s even and fair, and this often happens because over time everyone realizes that they are all guilty. When it comes to Sludge no one can stay on their high horse for long.

One final thought on this Guidepost: This new idea about time makes surprisingly deep changes in your work culture. Once you’ve eliminated the ideas of early and late, you start taking time out of the equation for every aspect of work.

For example, how long is a meeting? In most businesses a meeting is scheduled in increments of thirty minutes. But why? Maybe it’s a function of calendaring software or maybe it’s because when your mental framework is based on hours, then you naturally want to carve up time into neat increments. The problem is that this kind of thinking leads to meetings where you spend the time because there is time to spend. You allotted a half hour so you’d better fill it.

The other funny thing about time and meetings is that you are generally expected to attend a meeting from beginning to end. Only upper management has the right to dip in and out of the meeting, but for the rank and file your butt had better be in that seat and your bellybutton had better be touching the edge of that conference room table from start to finish.

In a ROWE