Flexible Working – Driving Competitive Advantage for Medium Businesses Steve Clayton Head of Technology for Midmarket Microsoft UK

Agenda What is Flexible Working? How do I work flexibly? Technology supporting Flexible Working Giving you competitive advantage Who does this today?

What is Flexible Working? Part time working Flexible hours of work Home working Managing on outcomes rather than inputs Using technology to support working where it benefits the business most All of the above…

Inflexible working… “I don’t have my calendar with me so can I schedule when I get back to the office?” “Sorry, the data was copied incorrectly from the paper form” “I can’t access our systems remotely – it will have to wait until tomorrow” “if only I had my customer data with me…” “Let me call back to the office and see if we have that part in stock” “I’ll send you that when I get back to the office”

“British management is at a significant crossroads. For years, managers have been used to managing people by simply watching over them. With the rise of flexible working, that style will have to completely change or else we face the prospect of mangers holding back the tide of flexible working, like a modern-day King Canute” Peter Thomson Director of Future Work Forum Henley Management College

Evolving workplace The UK workplace has changed dramatically over the past 200 years s Industrial s Transition Post Industrial Manual Workers Factory Automation Mechanical Electronic Robotic Traditional place of work Increase in Office Centered Work Office Automation Data, Forms & Docs Telecoms & IT Internet Work is process Tele-working Info-centric staff: Innovators Customer-Facing Supplier-Facing High speed networks Mass adoption of mobile technologies Flexible working

My flexible work style 10 years ago I worked exclusively from an office 5 years ago I worked primarily from an office despite being field based Today, I work where I need to At home At the office or customers office On the Tube In the garden At my parents, at a coffee shop, in airports, in hotels… And the PC is just one of the tools I use to make me unquestionably more productive

Microsoft Office Word Excel PowerPoint Access Designed for: Word processing Business modeling Presentations Business data management Microsoft Office System Exchange Server SharePoint Server Excel InfoPath Search & Content Management Live Communication Server Designed for: Collaboration/ Workflow Document management Business intelligence

Finance Empowered Professionals IT Infrastructure Sales and Marketing Operations Inside today’s changing business

An integrated platform approach GPRS – WiFi – 3G

Technology Supporting Flexible Working Communications Voice Communications Instant Messaging, text messaging Collaboration Documents Whiteboard Conferencing Business Intelligence KPI’s, CRM

Research findings It’s the result that matters Reward results and avoid ‘presenteeism’ and the ‘long hours’ culture Beef up communication It is important to keep a balance between formal, factual communications and the informal; The grapevine is still important It is vital social contact is maintained in virtual teams for people to work collaboratively; Technology can help Mobile IT has freed up people to work apart but it also has the power to bring people together. Managers need to use the different media in a planned way that best suits their operation; Train, train, train Employees need to learn to work differently and adjust to a more independent environment. Source: Tomorrow’s Work research from Microsoft and the Henley Management College

Does it extend to working on holiday? 57% of British professionals work while on holiday Nearly nine out of ten people (89%) admit to checking their Two-thirds (66%) check voic Half (47%) write documents.

The competitive advantage Staff attraction and retention Improved customer responsiveness and satisfaction Improved work life balance Higher productivity Reduction in commuting Lower stress levels (despite often longer hours) Reduced building costs Appearing bigger than you are

Who does this today?

Who is doing this today?

Conclusions Employees need guidance over when, where and how they are expected to work flexibly; being always available can lead to resentment Organisations should consider the move to managing more by outcomes than inputs; results vs. attendance Technology has a significant part to play in enabling flexible working and driving competitive advantage

Thank you for your time.