How Do You Define Flexible Work?

That was the question I was asked repeatedly at last week’s ERE Expo.  Attendees and vendors would look at my badge and ask what my company did.  When I explained it, they would smirk (literally, not smile but smirk) and ask how I defined “more flexibility in the workplace.”

When I explained that workplace flexibility can take many different forms, but most importantly it must be an arrangement that works both for the employer and the employee, they stopped smirking and started listening.  Part of the reason for the smirk is that flexibility in the workplace has been seen as a perk – something extra that a good employee gets above and beyond what other workers get.  It simply is not.  It is a necessary tool for HR to use to retain and attract high quality workers even in a recession.

And what form that flexibility takes is very dependent on what the employer needs of the worker and what the worker can reasonably expect from an employer.  In my career the sort of workplace flexibility I have had has varied with the kind of work I was doing and the kind of company I was working for:

ROWE (Results Oriented Work Environment) Not long after college I worked for a Boston TV station that acquired the rights to produce and broadcast Red Sox games.  I was charged with putting together a 30-minute pre-game show for 87 broadcasts from April through Sept.  I did not have a set schedule.  Once management understood I could put together a quality product (with a great team of people that worked for me), they left me alone.    Other than game days and scheduled meetings, my supervisors did not mandate a schedule for me.  There were days I needed to be at the ballpark doing interviews.  There were nights I needed to use the edit suite to finish a video package.  There were lunches I needed to go to to cover Red Sox news.  I knew what was expected and I got the job done.  Of course my manager would step in when he felt the need but for the most part as long as the show was a good one, I was in charge of my own time.

Project/Contract Work – About 10 years later I found myself out of the television business and working in non-profit.  My father had just had a heart transplant and was in the critical first year of recovery.  There were lots of Doctor’s appointments to attend to and there was a lot of stress on both my parents.  As I had just finished a contract assignment in TV – I felt a less-demanding job was called for.  I took an assignment in fundraising and event planning.  I worked from home and again, other than mandatory monthly meetings, my time was my own.  I had many goals to meet…number of attendees, fundraising goal, sponsorship dollars brought in.  But as long as I kept my supervisor apprised of what was happening, asked for help as needed and met my goals I was free to head out to a doctor’s appt. with my Dad and give my Mom some down time.  It was the perfect arrangement for that time in my life.

80%-Time/Flexible – By the time I decided to became a parent, my father’s health had stabilized nicely.  I had never really worked in a traditional office environment and decided to give it a try.  I was hired to work in marketing at a high-tech company.  I was temping full-time, but within a month I was pregnant and thinking about what I would like ideally for a schedule once the baby was born.  When the company decided to hire me on permanently, we discussed my schedule which became 3 days in the office, 1 day from home with the appropriate drop in pay/benefits to 80% to match my 80% work schedule.   This schedule worked for both them and I.  I wrote newsletters, produced webinars and helped out with PR.  Tasks that did not require me to be physically present in the office.  I also was quite flexible on my days from home…if they needed me or if there was an important meeting I would come to the office.  If they needed me for more than 80% at any point, I could help out as well, I just required some notice to arrange additional childcare.  It was an arrangement that worked for both parties.

Complete Flexibility – Now I run my own business and my time is my own.  I get to schedule my meetings for when they work for me, and the party I am meeting.  I get to write blog articles any time day or night.  I work with a web design and development company who also works flexibly and we schedule phone/meetings as needed but have never met face-to-face.  And it’s great…I still need to bend my schedule based on other people’s but, as all priorities and deadlines are self-imposed, I get to be as flexible as I allow myself to be.

There is no one size fits all solution or one “right” definition of flexible work, just many different options including:

Compressed work  week (40 hours in less than 5 days)
Telecommuting (work 1 day from home or every day from home)
Part –time hours
Job Share
Working 6 months in the northern climes, 6 months in Arizona or Florida for those who are “retired”
Flexible hours – work 8:30a-1:30p, meet the bus at 2p,  then back to work from 6p-9p.

How would you define flexible work?