Flexible working isn’t new. We’ve already seen legislation on work from home requests come into effect, elevating the concept of smarter working practices to the board level, but the road doesn’t end there.
It’s not just a cultural change that’s critical to flexible working success. The correct infrastructure must be implemented to enable a connected experience for employees - whether they’re working via mobile, from home or away from the office. Management initiatives, as well as use of new scalable collaboration technologies are a must, and Work Wise Week is a valuable reminder to businesses to drive this forward.
By raising awareness of employee’s rights and the benefits of remote working, businesses can remove stigmas associated with it and pave the way for increased efficiency and a boost to staff morale. National Work from Home Day provides a great opportunity to test the water and can be a benchmark for future initiatives.
For those committed to making flexible working a success, focusing on the outcome of an employee’s daily work role rather than the tradition “if they are sitting in the office they must be working,” is a critical first step.
Next employers need to ensure strong connectivity with the office whether employees are using mobiles, desktops or tablets and are located away from the office. Scalable cloud collaboration technologies are a great option for testing systems as they are neither labour intensive nor high cost to invest in.
And while email and instant messaging are both great ways to quickly issue assignments, touch base with workers and receive feedback, they lack the personal touch that effective communication requires. In this instance video communication can vastly improve collaboration and provide a connected experience.
By Andy Nolan, VP UK, Ireland and Northern Europe at Lifesize
