We recently submitted an application to receive the official ROWE seal of approval. Not only did we receive approval, we also received a personal response from Jody Thompson praising us for our efforts in and pinpointing our weakness in our results only work environment.

Where we were failing our ROWE was in regards to our vacation policy. In a ROWE results must always be met regardless of vacation. This means that there is no need for a vacation policy. Employees can work when and from where they want to work. When an employee takes vacation the rest of the team should “mind the results” while the employee is away.

The Problem: Highgroove is a small shop and we do not work in large teams. Our developers are all responsible for a high volume of results. If a developer goes on vacation there is no way for the team to carry on their results. it is also unreasonable to require them to complete their normal results while on vacation.

The Solution: Start working in teams. Our developers often work solo on week long iterations. We are currently discussing the options for pairing teams on iterative development. This would double the size of the development team and provide a basis for team coverage in the absence of one team member. What is your ROWE vacation policy?