There are many reasons to let geeks work the way they want to
work. Today they work in every industry. They are the knowledge
base, blood and sweat equity of many businesses. They work harder
than most. They work longer than most. Their job isnt a separate
thing they do while they look forward to going home and
relaxing.
Geeks *live* what they do. They eat, sleep and breathe it. They are
your systems administrators, your IT team, your programmers, your
web developers, your designers
and sometimes even your customer
service and sales people. Anyone who understands how to leverage
todays technology to increase intelligence, productivity and
efficiency; anyone who stays up nights working to get better at
what they do; anyone whose job is their life - is a geek. These are
the most important asset your company has.
For this reason, its important to give
geeks what they want. Best part is, if you do, they most likely
will not leave your company to work for someone who will.
In short...
#1. Let them work when they want
#2. Let them work where they want
#3. Let them control their lighting
#4. Let them wear headphones
#5. Do not expect them to wear a suit
#6. Do not make them participate in company events (unless you are
sure it is geek-friendly)
#7. Do not hold a lot of arbitrary meetings that could have
otherwise been handled through email or IM
#8. Do not make them do anything other than wor