With many employees working remotely and others coming into the office, possibly with flexible schedules, there’s never been a better time for creating a flexible work environment. Flexibility has many meanings, but in the workplace, it often includes an adjustable schedule and the option to work from home. In this article, we’ll discuss a few ideas for creating a flexible work environment with ease.
Seek Advice From Personnel
In order to create a flexible work environment, first find out what employees need from flexibility in the workplace. What does flexibility mean to them? Use surveys and meetings to find out, and then make a plan using that information.
Make Use of Technology
Technology is used a lot in the workplace. Constant advances within the field help greatly when creating a flexible work environment. Here are a few ways technology helps with workplace flexibility:
- Time-tracking software can be used for clocking in remotely and tracking time no matter where an employee is working.
- Portable PCs can be used by employees so they can work almost anywhere (depending on the job.)
- Document sharing can be used for working on projects and sharing files with others.
- Video conferencing allows for workers to have face-to-face communication from anywhere in the world.
Technology makes a flexible workplace possible.
Offer Training
All personnel, including management, benefit from flexible workplace training. It’s never as simple as handing over laptops and wishing everyone the best of luck. Offer training to encourage employees to create a schedule that benefits their work-life balance and tasks at work. That’s the point of a flexible workplace—it allows employees to produce on their own terms with a schedule that helps them succeed.
Managers also need training since they need to remain in touch with employees, including the ones who are working from home or are on different schedules.
Create Guidelines
Once the plan is in place and training begins, make the new guidelines and policies clear to all personnel. Flexibility doesn’t equal confusion and disorder. Although employees want the ability to choose, they also want guidance as to how it’s all handled and what is or is not acceptable. Guidelines help employees not to feel lost as they navigate new territory.
Using these suggestions, an employer can create a flexible workplace environment that creates satisfied and loyal employees, which in turn creates an efficiently run company.
TimeTrakGO offers simple employee clock software designed with a flexible workplace environment in mind. Together with your company’s plan, we can create a work environment that offers a better work-life balance and attracts quality employees.
