Be Agile – so you have been told you are now an “agile” worker. But what does that mean? Put simply you have been given the ability to work in a more flexible manner. Agile working can take many forms and goes by a number of different names and acronyms, you may have heard it called “Smart Working”, “New Ways of Working” (NWW), “Better Ways of Working” (BWOW) flexible working or another buzz word, the actual name is immaterial, what is important is the freedom it should give you to work in a much more flexible way, to suit the tasks you are performing, to work where you are most productive for the tasks in hand. Whether that is within your office, between offices, the local café or even at home. It may mean you can work more flexible hours as well – this ca be useful to both fit work around family emergencies and working patterns as well as allowing you to work at the times you are most productive. What is important before you do anything else is to be informed. Understand what your organisations policy is and what they mean by agile working, what the change means, how you can now work and what is expected of you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions from the HR team, change team or whoever is leading the initiative.
Further Reading:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2009/05/agile_and_saving_money
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/technology/business-technology/10459734/agile-working.html
http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/apr/15/top-tips-to-allow-flexible-working
