Am I Flex?

What is flexible working?

I'm not changing my name here to Flex, nor am I talking about whether I can do the splits (which I definitely can't). These days, I would be lucky if I can touch my toes! This week I am talking about flexible working.

This is the new(ish) concept that as workers we can have choice and this is where this immediately gets interesting. You see, many people have talked about flexible working in the past but actually, for many, it has been quite prescriptive. "Yes Sally, of course you can work on home on Thursday, but only this week and we really would prefer it if you worked from here so please don't make this into a regular thing."

According to the UK Government website - 'Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee's needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home' - https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working. More often than not it hasn't suited the company and therefore a middle ground has been found.

This movement towards freedom of choice in terms of the how, where and when people can work has been mounting over the last few years and then along comes a pandemic which catapults us into a changed world and with it this movement now has the evidence it needs to argue back to all those who didn't believe... 'See your people can be happy and productive doing it that way'.

I am Flex

I am the embodiment of flexible working thanks to Covid-19. Having left an executive role in October 2019 and started up a business as a field based workplace assessor I now find myself truly immersed in Flex land as a writer, consultant and online event organiser. My wife has taken on more hours with her work and my hours and schedules now fit in completely with hers and the needs of our children. I can sometimes post at 6.30 a.m. whilst making a cup of tea, take the dog for a walk or hang up the washing whilst taking a telephone call, I can write anywhere and every where and I often do. I can stop to do some shopping, visiting the bank, posting who knows what, school pick up, helping with homework and then help clients whenever they need once the youngest are in bed.

There is a great deal to be said for making your work fit around your life not the other way around. Sure, I get the principle that if you love your work then it is a major part of your life but, it isn't and shouldn't be your life. If we get this flexible working thing right we just might start to make a positive impact on people's physical and mental wellbeing.

Is Flexible Working?

Well this is difficult to know because, when you look up flexible working on many websites the definition can differ slightly to that given earlier. As many people just define flexible in terms of different hours from the normal or in terms of the fact that you can work from home occasionally.

It is clear that some roles can't be as flexible as others. My wife, who is a dental nurse couldn't possibly be as flexible as me. Imagine, if half way through a procedure, your dentist and nurse decided they should go get a bite to eat.

There are many people I talk to who are in a role where they potentially could have more flexibility factored in, but it still isn't there. One of the main issues might well be the type of management process or infrastructure within some businesses. There are still a lot of micro management practices out there which rely on continual monitoring rather than trust and shared objectives.

Equipping Flex

If more people are to be able to flex then a change in provision for many people will be essential.

Companies will need to provide more agile management, procedures and systems for their staff in order for them to access and collaborate more effectively wherever and whenever.

During lockdown we saw how effective solutions such as Microsoft Teams became in enabling this kind of interaction. Many software houses followed the trend and enabled better integration with these core communication aids in order to reduce friction in the processes of remote workers.

From a comfort and productivity point of view items like portable hubs and docking stations start to become essential for flexible workers as people work from home more regularly as part of their week but might need to drop into the office once a week for a catch up meeting.

The provision of good, comfortable work environments for multiple locations becomes important and for the future more consideration will be given to what kinds of equipment people need outside of the central office space.

I personally couldn't be as flexible as I am without the space that I have here at home and the equipment and technology I use in order to be able to work in different spaces as I need to. Alongside flexible solutions to promote good posture as I have discussed in previous articles on home working. I also use solutions for keeping customer information safe and secure when I move between locations using cloud based storage solutions with two factor authentication such as Nimbox and biometric security.

More Flex

As we head into the next six months with no certainty about when things might change with this pandemic, one thing is for certain, the time for flexible working is here and now and I am excited to see what solutions continue to be developed to equip those of us who are becoming a little more flexible at work.