Ingredients for a flexible office
????Any company hoping to implement flexible work should invest in IT that will make it seamless and efficient. Ryan employees, for instance, need to access large databases in order to work remotely, Emerson says.
????MeetingMatrix uses Microsoft Lync to connect every employee around the globe. They show that they are available via instant messaging, and understand that they could be called on their cell phone on a day off if they are needed, says Keller.
????Similar changes are underway at companies like Delta Airlines, Ounce of Prevention, and WellStar Health System, giving employees more control over their schedules, according to the FWI-SHRM report. Delta employees can choose the schedules they want to work and can swap shifts. WellStar lets employees schedule themselves via a web-based tool, collaborating with coworkers to make sure that they are covered, according to the report.
????To be sure, it's a greater responsibility to ensure that you meet your job objectives than to simply be expected to place your body in an office chair for eight hours. Ryan employees are expected to understand the demands that flexibility places on them. You can't just direct people to call you if anything pops up.
????"It's not that your personal life takes complete precedence over the business. You may be missing that soccer game you wanted to go to because there's a huge client issue that needs to be resolved," Emerson says.
????Just the same, some companies have taken a different approach to the always-on nature of flexible work. The Habitat Company, a Chicago-based real estate firm, established an e-mail policy that responses should only be expected during business hours, as part of an overall flexible culture.
????With the right training, you can start to break the habit of equating hours worked with productivity. "People can get very judgmental of each other based on their own personal scripts," Emerson says.
????Three years after Ryan changed its policies, "people feel comfortable to come and go and do their personal stuff without having to feel they have to explain," she says.
