Is a traditional 9 to 5 job a thing of the past? (They're turning the old workplace movie, 9 to 5, into a Broadway musical, so you may get a chance to see what life used to be like). Sorry if you're stuck in one of those jobs, or maybe congratulations. But it certainly is no longer the only way to work.


We talk a lot about changes in the workplace, with flextime and telecommuting becoming at least a significant part of how we work in and out of offices today, if not actually taking over as the norm. One problem seems to be that many of the changes are coming from the bottom up, with employees getting permission to be the exception, and to work a schedule that's not 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.

I used to work at a company that finished its workday promptly at 5 p.m., regardless. To enforce this, a security guard started walking through the open office spaces at 5:15, shutting off the lights (yes, really!).

Now this may have been done for the benefit of the employee, but for many of us who were trying to be more productive and finish our projects rather than punching out, it was weird, and a little demoralizing.

Values are relative, I guess, but it would be interesting to officially open up the possibilities a little more, letting project groups decide how best to get things done. And not have to get individual permission for finding creative ways to be more productive.

If you're in HR, have you tried to institute any changes like that? Do you think it's a good idea, regardless of whether you're in HR?