Olympic home working study

04 July 2012

In response to predicted pressure on London’s transport infrastructure during the six weeks of the Olympics and Paralympics, many organisations are asking their people to work at or closer to their home. If widely adopted, this strategy will effectively be a large-scale flexible working experiment.

A study by AWA, titled Gold Medal, will assess the experience of staff, the effectiveness of working arrangements and the impact on productivity. The research will also identify obstacles to effective ‘distance working’ working and gauge future interest in working close to home.

As well as the more practical issues such as IT, equipment and telecoms support, the study will examine personal effectiveness, team effectiveness, relationship management and communications.

Commenting on the goals of the study Karen Plum, AWA’s Director of Consulting said: “Many organisations are using the Olympic period, (which in effect runs from the end of July through to the middle of September) to give their people a first taste of Agile Working.

“This could be a stepping stone to increasing the level of interest and acceptance of Agile Working as a legitimate alternative to trudging into the centre of London at peak times every day. We think it’s important to capture formally and to quantify feedback about ‘distance working’ both during and after the games, to give organisations a firm base on which to make judgements and future plans.”

Organisations interested in participating in the Gold Medal study should contact Helen Stenhouse hstenhouse@advanced-workplace.com for further information.