Flexible Working - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Hot-desking is not very popular. People like having their own desk and resent having it taken away. How do you deal with this?

A: We agree. This can be difficult. People tend naturally to be territorial so in a sense we are expecting them to adopt unnatural behaviour by sharing. We have come across a case, where a booking system is used, and one person regularly booked three desks simultaneously, which rather defeated the object of space saving - and that person was an HR manager!

What we find often works best is, as always, to take the team-based approach. Some of the earlier implementations of hotdesking created a kind of free-for-all that encouraged this kind of assertive behaviour. People feel unhappy if everyday they have to sit somewhere completely different, always alongside different people and away from their colleagues. "Teamspace" is a preferable solution, enabling people to be working close to their colleagues when they are in the office, and as a term this is preferable to "hotdesking".

However, it is important to prevent teams as much as individuals becoming too precious about "their" space if true flexibility is to be achieved. An understanding needs to be gained of the basic amount of space needed by teams, and how space is to be shared with other teams when desk utilisation is low, and how staff are to be accommodated in shared space at times of peak demand. Flexible space will include touchdown areas and informal meeting areas shared between teams where people can connect their laptops, and meeting rooms where team meetings can take place.

We have found that when staff are consulted, the majority are positive about giving up some personal space in return for greater flexibility. It also helps if they are involved in the redesigning of workspace, and so feel some ownership of the new arrangements. It's much more effective to pre-empt any resentment, rather than to deal with it afterwards.

Q2: In hot-desking arrangements, how do you work out the appropriate number of desks to people?

A: All kinds of ratios are achieved by flexible work implementations. A recent headlining case study from the DTI says that in their London HQ they have achieved a ratio of 8 desks to 10 staff. Many organisations achieve far more radical space savings, with up to 1 desk for every 2 employees.

The key is understanding two things: 1) current space utilisation through a space audit, and 2) work styles and how these can be adapted through more flexible working. This can give you a measurable base for understanding how much space is needed for average utilisation and for peak times.

One needs also to re-think what one means by asking "how many desks?" The question itself is rooted in old ways of looking at offices. People need space to work, and not just "desks" - and seated in serried ranks of workstations is not the appropriate layout for many types of work that take place in the office. The questions should be, "How do we organise space best to suit the range of tasks and to meet demand?" The answer lies in a thorough analysis of work-styles and variations in demand.

Q3: How do you change the psychology of managers to accept flexible working?

A: This is the most important part of the culture change process. After workshop training sessions, which help them to recognise the possibilities and show them how to manage by performance rather than "presenteeism", we recommend a period of trial. A team-based approach encourages shared responsibility for service delivery and communication. This makes the managers task easier rather than more difficult. Trialling enables the change to be made gradually and to be adjusted to find what works. In almost all cases managers are surprised how quickly flexibility has a positive impact on productivity and morale and none we have worked with have chosen to go back to the old working practices.

Q4: Some people's jobs don't allow for flexible working so how do you make sure that it's fair.

A: It's quite right to ask about making flexible work fair for all. Modern management methods need to be both fair and transparent otherwise people make equity adjustments by, for example, putting in less effort or "throwing sickies". There is a wide range of flexible working options and not all options are suitable for every job function. There is no one-size-fits-all.

There are, however, always ways of providing for more flexibility and it is up to the teams and their managers to work out what works so that it suits both the needs of the business and the needs of the employees. People are sensible and know what needs to be delivered. Sometimes just a small change offers people more control and improved work-life balance. A few simple examples:

One woman found that being allowed to arrive just 15 minutes later enabled her to take her daughter to school instead of dropping her off at a friend's house. It made her feel less hassled in the mornings.

A disabled lady found that working a compressed week and taking Wednesdays off helped her to recuperate mid-week and was more productive later in the week.

"I don't have to run down the road anymore when I'm ten minutes late because the tubes are bad. I just make the time up." "It's good to know that, in future, I'll be able to attend some of my children's daytime school events, such as class assemblies and sports days."

It's also appropriate to challenge the assumptions about inflexible jobs. People often assume that jobs are more inflexible than they are. Some tasks within a job may be carried out remotely, even if the greater part needs to be carried out at a particular place. Swiftwork has also helped introduce flexibility, for example, with construction firms and bottling plants. It's a question of identifying what kinds of flexibility may apply.

Q5: What types of business or work environments are the easiest for introducing flexible working and what are the most difficult situations?

A: The usual office environment is the easiest as are job functions that normally involve working away from the office - sales and marketing teams, journalists, local authority building control teams, for example. Mobile communications now enable the work to be done anywhere rather than having to go back to the office to make calls or submit reports. Flexibility provides for more efficient work processes while giving employees greater control and ownership over their work.

Manufacturing and construction are more difficult environments but, even in these industries, flexibility can lead to productivity improvements. Flexible shift patterns or self-resourcing plans managed by teams or manufacturing cells enable production to meet peaks and troughs in demand, reduce overtime and enable employees to gain time in less productive periods.

Q6: Peoplespace's office designs show how more people and desks can be accommodated. Does this still provide sufficient space for escape routes as required by Health and Safety?

A: Yes. All the designs take into account escape routes. In fact, when looking at a room prior to redesigning the space, it's almost the first thing the space planners do. This enables the network of flows for people movement to be developed in the office building. Provision for wheelchair movements and disabled access is also factored in.

A reduction in the numbers of sharp corners and doors will in fact help more efficient movement and freer flows in the building and improve disabled access, as well as providing opportunities for aesthetic improvements.

Q7: Do noise levels increase if more people are accommodated in the same space?

A: Possibly - but it depends both on the type of space and the type of work. And no doubt it depends on the type of people as well, in some cases!

People do complain that open-plan offices can make it hard to work due to interruptions and distractions. But it is worth remembering that one person talking on the phone in a small office can be more powerfully intrusive than the background hum of a larger office. The key is to provide a range of spaces appropriate for different kinds of work. Many people find working from home a good way to take on concentrated work with fewer distractions. In more flexible open setting, small rooms or pods for quiet work can be made available. Surveys show high demand amongst staff for more informal meeting areas, including cafés, for ad hoc meetings. This takes away the disruption to colleagues that arise from people gathering around desks.

And there are also a variety of furnishings and techniques to deaden sound in the office environment. The aim should be to create a very human environment fit for a range of work styles and sensitive to individual and team requirements.

Q8: How do you overcome the isolating factors of working from home?

A: Few people work from home all the time and this method of working is suitable for only a minority of jobs and for a minority of people. Most people benefit from the flexibility of being able to work from home for part of the time or as and when it suits the job.

However, any form of homeworking requires that you pay attention to your communications. It is the role of the manager to ensure that good team communications are established. This will probably mean regular face-to-face meetings, diary sharing, regular phone and email contact. Regular meetings will depend on the job but weekly or monthly meetings of the team are typically valued as a means of both setting priorities and workloads for the period and for personal exchanges between colleagues. Department or group conferences can augment these say every six months.

As a manager of remote workers, you will be managing more by output and performance. It is important to use these meetings to praise your team for good performance. Praise and recognition should be a key part of your communications with individual homeworkers who otherwise may lack feedback they would normally experience in an office environment. Ofsted, who have 60% of their workforce home-based, also have home-base representatives and opportunities for interaction through sports and social clubs.

Some people may not thrive as homeworkers. As a general principle, both employee and employer should have the option to initiate a change back to office-based working. However, where the position has been advertised as home-based moving to office-based work may not be viable.

Q9: What do you need to set up employees to work from home?

A: This is a big question! At the strategic level, it needs an understanding of how and where staff work, the tasks they undertake, and how space is used in the office. From an employer's point of view, they will want the new home-based office to be at least self-funding - by increasing productivity and/or generating savings. The risk is that office environments are duplicated - or even tripled with staff kitted out with central, home and mobile offices.

At a practical level, the principle to follow is that staff should have seamless access to their IT and telephony systems, so that they can carry out all their work activities efficiently from wherever they are.

So for the homeworker this means:

• a defined space in the home where they can work - the kitchen table or the sofa are not viable solutions except for very short periods of time
• a home PC or laptop
• if using a laptop at home for hours at a time, additional ergonomic devices such as keyboard, mouse and laptop stand are advisable
• secure remote access to the company IT systems
• a separate phone for work, integrated into the office telephony system
• ergonomic desk and chair
• appropriate storage solutions
• H&S assessment
• training

Should homeworkers be provided with kit or buy their own? Some companies provide an allowance with approved suppliers; others prefer to provide the whole kit and caboodle. Providing everything has the advantage of controlling the home office set-up from an H&S point of view. Aesthetically this risks bringing intrusive design into the home environment, so there may be need for some negotiation. It is important however to avoid allowing people to buy the cheapest kit from the nearest retail park, as this is unlikely to provide an adequate ergonomic solution for working hours at a time from home.

For IT kit and remote access solutions, it is in almost all cases preferable for the employer to provide these, for reasons of security and support.

Q10: Is VoIP (Voice over IP, i.e. Internet telephony) of adequate quality?

A: The solutions put in by Inclarity are of business quality, which is superior to the kind of free downloadable solutions provided by various online providers. A lot of telephony is carried "behind the scenes" both nationally and internationally over IP networks. Now it can be carried over the Internet to a desktop near you, and the quality is pretty much the same as a normal landline, and better than most mobile telephony.

Q11: In the flexible work implementation at Scottish Legal Aid Board, what was employees' reaction to loss of overtime?

A: Moira Williamson of the Scottish Legal Aid Board said that, for the pilots, the Board didn't remove access to overtime but a reduction in overtime by 45% was one of the incidental outcomes. The big difference was a change in mindset. Working time was no longer the Board's time but employees' own time. In having greater control over when they work, employees are able to get the work done in hours that suit them better. This often involves working outside normal core hours but not working longer hours.

Q12: You suggest a team-based approach but what do you do about dominant members of the team?

A: Moira Williamson said that peer pressure proved to be a very powerful tool. The team-based approach actually results in the mindset that any abuse of the system means "stealing" from one's colleagues rather than from a "faceless" organisation. It is therefore managed within the team.

Q13: Do you have problems recruiting or have some people left because they can't adapt to flexible working?

A: On the contrary, flexible working improves both recruitment and retention. Caroline Oldham from Ofsted, (where 60% of employees are home-based) said that when they first introduced homeworking some people couldn't cope with the isolation and some had home environments that make homeworking difficult. As with any change, there are always some who find it difficult. However, Ofsted now select people who have an aptitude for homeworking.

Q14: What are the Health and Safety considerations regarding working from home?

A: As far as the law is concerned, there is no difference between a homeworker and an office-based worker. The employer has a duty to ensure that H&S requirements are met in both cases. Employees can complete a self-assessment form (available from the HSE) to check these requirements are met in the home. Companies may prefer to carry out periodic inspections, or may produce their own self-assessment forms.