Munching a dirty yet very tasty Burger King meal I am joined by the masses who are on the last train heading for the east midlands tonight in what can only be described as typical commuter territory.
This evening I attended the #AWtweetup held by Anywhere Working. The idea behind the event was for people to get together with a common aim: exploring how flexible working can help not only the individual but organisations and the wider economy.
The venue for the tweet meet was The Driver, Kings Cross a beautiful boutique gastropub with a walter as a seat – I kid you not! On offer was drink, food and surprisingly massages which looked divine although I didn’t take advantage as I was scared I may fall asleep.
Attendees included representatives of the founding members of the consortium: Microsoft, Intel and also those who are in support of flexible working: Mumsnet, WWF. Although the real star of the night was a four week old baby girl who accompanied her radiant looking mummy.
Getting down to business we were there to talk about one thing: how to make flexible working work? My perspective as a parent blogger and social media specialist is how do you juggle a basket load of spiked fire balls? The children will always come first, this is a given; however it is still important to develop our careers to achieve and who knows even exceed our potential.
The benefits of flexible working from the point of employers is pretty obvious. 2012 is a busy year for Great Britain, with the summer seeing the biggest test on the country’s transport infrastructure. There is also big pressure on organisations to reduce their carbon footprint, so flexible working offers a diverse opportunity for these organisations to strengthen their progressive development.
The benefits for a freelance individual such as myself are a little less clear cut. Yes I gain valuable family time and reduce the amount of money that is spent on childcare if I were working full time, however this gain is quickly taken away with the uncertaintiy that comes with unsecured work and the associated issues trying to find childcare that matches the flexibility of your work.
Flexible working as promoted by Anywhere Working is great and I am in no doubt that it will allow the landscape of the working environment to change not as in a revolution but more like a gradual shift that will be sustainable and seismic in shaping how we work; perhaps even the content that we produce.
Apart from meeting a pretty great bunch of people what I have learnt from this evening? Well with answers come questions, so yes I accept that what I am doing is following a growing movement and that I’m not some lonesome figure tapping away at a computer in my converted home office, struggling to play peekaboo with a teething baby while all the time sounding professional and together on a conference call.
But and this is a big but: hot desks are all good and well but they’re no use to me unless there is the equivalent in childcare. Express nannying is something that I pray everyday will catch on. I suppose what I’m trying to get at it is flexible working can only succeed for all member of the circle if other aspects of our world are flexible; childcare, schooling, even relationships!
Flexible working is not the answer to a flexible lifestyle it is the beginning of a journey to a fully integrated flexible community.
You can find out more about Anywhere Working and what they’re up to at www.anywhereworking.org
