实现弹性工作场所的条件

    如果公司希望执行灵活的工作制度，必须在IT方面进行投资，保证公司无缝、高效运行。比如，Ryan的员工在进行远程作业中就必须访问公司的大型数据库。

    MeetingMatrix则使用微软旗下的企业信息通信软件Lync来联络遍布全球各地的员工。凯勒称，员工可以通过即时通信的形式证明自己处于待命状态；并且，员工也理解，一旦公司有需要，即便在休息日也可以给他们打电话。

    在美国达美航空公司（Delta Airlines）、Ounce of Prevention 基金会，以及医疗机构WellStar Health System，也在发生这类似的变化。据FWI-SHRM的报告称，这些公司给员工更多权利，掌控自己的工作安排。比如，达美航空的员工可以选择适合他们的工作安排，并且可以与其他人换班。而在WellStar，员工可以通过网页工具，与同事合作制定工作计划，以保证始终有人坚守工作岗位。

    毫无疑问，和在办公室呆上八个小时相比，保证工作目标得以实现的责任更加重大。Ryan公司希望员工能够理解这种灵活工作时间对他们提出的要求。不可能等到事情突然冒出来的时候，才让人给你打电话汇报。

    埃莫森说：“这并不是意味着个人生活的重要性完全高于工作。你可能会因为有重要客户的问题需要解决，而不得不放弃想看的足球比赛。”

    同样，有一些公司采取的方式，则完全不同于始终在线式的弹性工作制度。作为公司弹性工作文化的一部分，位于芝加哥的房地产公司The Habitat Company便制定了电子邮件政策，规定员工仅需要回复在工作时间收到的电子邮件。

    通过恰当的培训，老板们可以改变将工作时间等同于工作效率的旧习惯。埃莫森称：“人们会根据自己的情况设身处地地为他人着想。”

    她说，Ryan调整政策三年之后，“人们已经习惯了来到公司，然后离开公司去处理个人事务，不必跟任何人解释。”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Ingredients for a flexible office

    Any company hoping to implement flexible work should invest in IT that will make it seamless and efficient. Ryan employees, for instance, need to access large databases in order to work remotely, Emerson says.

    MeetingMatrix uses Microsoft Lync to connect every employee around the globe. They show that they are available via instant messaging, and understand that they could be called on their cell phone on a day off if they are needed, says Keller.

    Similar changes are underway at companies like Delta Airlines, Ounce of Prevention, and WellStar Health System, giving employees more control over their schedules, according to the FWI-SHRM report. Delta employees can choose the schedules they want to work and can swap shifts. WellStar lets employees schedule themselves via a web-based tool, collaborating with coworkers to make sure that they are covered, according to the report.

    To be sure, it's a greater responsibility to ensure that you meet your job objectives than to simply be expected to place your body in an office chair for eight hours. Ryan employees are expected to understand the demands that flexibility places on them. You can't just direct people to call you if anything pops up.

    "It's not that your personal life takes complete precedence over the business. You may be missing that soccer game you wanted to go to because there's a huge client issue that needs to be resolved," Emerson says.

    Just the same, some companies have taken a different approach to the always-on nature of flexible work. The Habitat Company, a Chicago-based real estate firm, established an e-mail policy that responses should only be expected during business hours, as part of an overall flexible culture.

    With the right training, you can start to break the habit of equating hours worked with productivity. "People can get very judgmental of each other based on their own personal scripts," Emerson says.

    Three years after Ryan changed its policies, "people feel comfortable to come and go and do their personal stuff without having to feel they have to explain," she says.