? Integrated Approach to Flexible Working | worklifecentre.com

The Integrated Approach, Flexible Working by Islington Council

Posted by Andy Lake
February 22, 2010

>  Andy Lake is a specialist in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for new ways of working and communicating. Activities in this field include implementation of new ways of working in large organisations, and leading research projects into the wider societal and environmental impacts of ICT. Research in this area has in particular focused on the field of “virtual mobility". Read more from this author

One organisation that has adopted an Integrated Approach to Flexible Working is Islington Council.  Like many councils, Islington has been under pressure to increase efficiency over a number of years.  The Smart Working programme began there in 2005 – delivering better services, more sustainablility and with fewer resources.  Flexible Working has ramped up from departmental initiatives to have an integrated framework that guides Smart Working throughout the Council.  2,400 staff are now set up to work more flexibly, working on a desk-sharing basis.

Starting from a portfolio of arund 40 office buildings, the Council has now released 12 of them, and refurbished 13 as Smart Working environmnets, where the focus is on collaboration rather than working at fixed desks.  This has led to a 10 per centre reduction in accommodation running costs.  According to Paul Savage, Smart Programme Manager at Islington “In an organisation like a Council, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.  So, while building up an integrated framework for delivery, the roll-out of Smart Working in each service has to take account of the particular needs of that srvice, and where they are starting from.”  Paul feels that Smart Working is more relevant than ever in the current economic climate.  “After salaries and property,  facilities are the the biggest costs to councils.  We need the people much more than we need desks, and the more we can cut our overheads, the better we can maintain services.”  Because of the need for integration, flexible work, or “smart working”, implementation is now perhaps emerging as a discipline in itself.

Extract from Flexible Working Supplement, The Guardian, 20.01.2010


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