Flex-Time Technology Fix

By Margery Weinstein More companies are offering flexible work environments to help attract and retain top talent, support the mobile workforce, encourage work-life balance, enhance collaboration, increase productivity, reduce costs, and extend the usefulness of office space. But companies only reap the benefits of flex-work plans when they are well managed. This means making shared workspace available to employees when they are on site, and making it easy for them to schedule needed resources wherever they are. Luckily there are technology fixes, such as Resource Scheduler from PeopleCube, available to help. The vendor points out the ways this type of technology can be used to better manage flex-time:

• Identify and reserve any type of resource (e.g., workspaces, conference rooms, training facilities, A/V equipment, fleet vehicles) based on specified criteria (e.g., size, proximity to coworkers).
• Book space and equipment either on site through kiosks or remotely through the Web, Microsoft Outlook, or Lotus Notes.
• Reduce real-estate expenses by providing temporary, shared office space rather than dedicated space.
• Decrease the corporate carbon footprint (e.g., by decreasing energy for climate control, lighting, and commuting-related emissions).
• Implement, oversee, and enforce policies governing the use of space (for example, allowing only designated employees or groups access to certain space, such as rooms containing personnel files) and other resources.

HAVE INPUT OR TIPS on this topic? If so, send them our way in an e-mail to lorri@trainingmag.com with the subject line "Flex-Time," and we'll try to include your advice in an upcoming issue.