Flexible working is not new. Over two decades ago IBM, ICL and Rank Xerox operated telecommuting networks. Among the key lessons learned is that a new way of working such as teleworking needs to be right for the role, the organisation and the individuals concerned. Flexible working suited particular individuals undertaking certain tasks. Effective operation required new practices and support arrangements.
As a general principle people should be able to work at whatever time and place enables them to best harness their potential and be effective at whatever tasks they are undertaking. The right way of working for one role or activity might not be appropriate for another. In some cases ‘being there’ might be important while other work could be ‘location independent’.
The experience of pioneers
Flexible working is not new. Over two decades ago IBM, ICL and Rank Xerox operated telecommuting networks. Among the key lessons learned is that a new way of working such as teleworking needs to be right for the role, the organisation and the individuals concerned. Flexible working suited particular individuals undertaking certain tasks. Effective operation required new practices and support arrangements.
Those who wished to become teleworkers (as the author did) under the Rank Xerox ‘networking’ programme were required to undertake a number of tests and be interviewed by an independent third party to assess whether they had the potential to operate successfully in a new way of working (i.e. they were ‘self-motivated’, ‘inwardly directed’, etc.). Typically a half of the volunteers were rejected.
While the European Commission and ‘telecoms’ companies like BT and Cable and Wireless introduced various initiatives to promote more flexible patterns of work such as teleworking, their adoption has been much slower than champions and early enthusiasts predicted in view of the practical problems encountered. While corporate structures have undergone significant change traditional ways of working persist.
Key lessons for legislators
If it is not to be a burden for companies and a disservice to individuals who might not be cut out to work flexibly and/or independently, and for whose roles it might not be appropriate, legislation to grant rights to flexible working should reflect the reality that a particular way of working will not suit all individuals, in all roles and in all circumstances, or all of those with whom they will be required to collaborate.
The experiences of early pioneers is that flexible working is most likely to succeed where the arrangements are voluntary, the work concerned is appropriate, the individuals concerned are likely to be suited to what is proposed, and the individuals, the organisation, and those with whom the individuals will be working are all agreed and make the necessary changes in ways of communicating and working (e.g. assessment on outputs) for the new way of working to succeed.
Early experience also suggests that in view of the need for assessment, and the contractual, management, communication and other issues to be addressed, the cost of setting up a successful flexible working arrangement can be significant. This could represent a considerable burden for a smaller organisation and where relatively small numbers of people are likely to be involved.
Despite the set up costs and the changes of behaviour and practice that may be required, flexible working can be beneficial when it is voluntary and appropriate in the circumstances. Yet, too often organisations are re-structured and processes are simplified or re-engineered without fundamentally changing how, where, when or with whom particular tasks are undertaken. A pan-European project team led by the author developed ‘The Responsive Organisation’* framework and methodology for introducing new ways of working during organisational change and/or process improvement activities. Doing both can massively increase the success rate of business restructuring and yield significant benefits for both people and organisations.
Flexible working and entrepreneurial companies
Flexible operation is the key to the success of many entrepreneurial companies. Hazell Carr found it could offer the services of professional actuaries who work from home. Training services were provided to freelance knowledge workers, and checks put in place to monitor the quality of calculations resulting from the company’s virtual model of operation. Working at night enabled RS Communication Services staff to install phone lines in City Offices while their users were asleep or clubbing.
Virgin and easyJet have based their business strategies upon doing things differently. Small companies sometimes give a lead when it comes to adopting alternative ways of working. Although operating in a traditional sector, Swift Construction allows its people to work flexible hours and job-share.
Cisco Systems grew rapidly by providing products that allowed others to use the Internet and embrace ebusiness. New ways of working also create business opportunities for those who help to make it happen. Telework Systems products include software for tracking, monitoring and managing mobile and remote workers.
Too often the workplace is a constraint, overhead cost, cause of sick building syndrome and spreader of swine flue rather than an enabler of creativity and flexibility. Offices should be designed to support a variety of relationships, behaviours and patterns of interaction. To encourage imaginative thinking there should be quiet spaces for personal reflection, and activity areas for brainstorming and other group sessions. People could switch locations and times according to tasks.
What do winners – the more successful companies - do differently in relation to new ways of working? To answer this question the author has examined the corporate experience of over 2,000 companies. The results are summarized in: ‘Winning Companies; Winning People (Policy Publications, 2007)’*.
Unsuccessful approaches
Losers tend to stick with a particular and hierarchical model of operation. The structure is set out in organisation charts. There are probably job descriptions for most positions, and how the organisation operates is set out in a physical or electronic manual. Preparing these and understanding them takes time. Hence people are reluctant to make changes that might involve altering diagrams, updating files and reprinting documents.
Some people become complacent. They believe they have discovered or created a formula for continuing business success. They also swear by particular approaches and enshrine them in standard processes and procedures. The framework solidifies.
Many losers have a weakness for single solutions, panaceas and fads. They believe that this management approach, that technology or a particular consultant’s methodology will provide an answer or solve their problems. While struggling to make a chosen course of action work they fail to consider alternative options. They lock themselves in. Inappropriate legislation could have the same effect.
Employees who can be trusted to operate in approved ways and observe standard practice are promoted. After some time corporate structures, processes, systems and mind-sets become rigid and inflexible. Subject them to increasing stress and they first creak and groan and then snap.
Increase workloads and transaction flows and people in ‘loser’ organisations struggle to cope. Rather than operate in new ways or change processes they endeavour to work harder, faster and for longer hours. They quickly become overloaded and break down. Work-life balance is an issue in these companies because people suffer additional pressures without enjoying any of the compensating benefits.
Successful approaches
There are often alternative ways of achieving the same objective. Winning corporate cultures are more tolerant of uncertainty and diversity. Their people think in terms of flows rather than structures. They reflect. They are willing to question, review and consider alternatives. Fluid roles, flexible systems and adaptable processes enable these organisations to move in new directions as situations and circumstances change.
Winners avoid blind alleys and dead ends. They do not take continuing success for granted and are always open to alternative ways of operating. They are less wedded to precedent and more likely to treat each case on its own merits. They are also willing to re-invent themselves and to learn and work in new ways as the occasion demands. Innovative responses and novel approaches are recognised and rewarded.
Bespoke products and services are offered. Processes and their supporting systems exist to support developing relationships with customers. Learning is built into them. They are updated as required, and individual tasks are handled in whatever ways are thought to be most appropriate. People endeavour to improve and build upon what has gone before rather than merely replicate previous responses.
On the whole, winners are pragmatic, catholic and wary of ‘single solutions’. They assemble creative and practical combinations of whatever ways of working and learning and change elements they feel will enable them to achieve their purposes. They are always alert to the possibility of better alternatives and vary the factors selected to improve outcomes and cope with changing circumstances.
Attitudes, processes, systems and ways of working and learning are relatively robust and resistant to stress. Because they flex to accommodate changing conditions and circumstances they do not fall over when the going gets tough. Winners handle new challenges and opportunities by prioritising, adapting and securing flexible access to whatever additional resources are required.
Conclusion and summary
A new way of working must be appropriate for the tasks to be performed and the people concerned. Tasks should be defined in terms of delivering a specified ‘output’ with fixed parameters of cost and time. Ideal flexible workers are those who are inner directed and able to apply their knowledge and skill independent of any particular physical location.
People likely to be involved in a new way of working - and those who work with them - need to be involved and prepared. Clear objectives and targets should be set and health, safety and security issues addressed. Voluntary programmes are far more likely to succeed than those that are imposed. Regular communications with those who are working flexibly are also highly conducive of success.
*Further Information
‘Winning Companies; Winning People, making it easy for average performers to adopt winning behaviours’ by Colin Coulson-Thomas is published Policy Publications (2007). It contains additional findings, various checklists and guidance on how to enable ordinary performers to emulate the approaches of high achievers. The new handbook can be ordered from https://www.policypublications.com
A framework and methodology exists for introducing new ways of working while restructuring [‘The Responsive Organisation’] and re-engineering supply chains using the enabling technologies of electronic commerce [‘The Competitive Network’]. Both methodologies can be obtained from https://www.policypublications.com
Details of support tools that can support flexible, mobile and other forms of working and take account of the author’s findings can be found on https://www.cotoco.com
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Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas, an experienced chairman of award winning companies, author of ‘Winning Companies; Winning People’ (Policy Publications, 2007) and ‘Transforming the Company, Manage Change, Compete and Win’ (Kogan Page, 2002/4), and principal author of ‘The Responsive Organisation’ methodology leads the ‘leading performance improvement and corporate transformation’ research and best practice programme. After leading the EU’s COBRA re-engineering and teleworking project, he became the world’s first Professor of Corporate Transformation and more recently the Process Vision Holder of major transformation projects. Colin has worked with over 100 boards to improve board effectiveness and/or corporate performance, and has spoken at over 200 national and international conferences in over 40 countries. He can be contacted by telephone: +44 (0) 1733 361 149, E-mail: colinct@tiscali.co.uk or via www.coulson-thomas.com.
