Tuesday, 19th August 2008

At first glance women would appear to be the perfect candidates for mobile-working. As well as being increasingly tech-savvy, a recent Microsoft survey found that more than half of woman (55%) take control of technology in the home, more often than not they are the primary child carer so have a strong claim for working more flexibly, especially as recent legislation has extended flexi-working rights for parents.

So why is it that women appear to be spending more time working at the office than their male counterparts; recent research conducted by Microsoft has shown that 52% of woman are spending more time at the office rather than less and far more men than woman responded that they are able to work away from the office on a regular basis. The research also revealed that the majority of women believe that work in the future will be about negotiating more flexible timetables and working collaboratively to determine when it is okay to work from home and when to come to the office.

While there is still a general perception problem with mobile working and presenteeism lingers it is clearly woman who feel it most keenly; according to renowned female psychologist Susie Orbach guilt is “the default position for woman”* and as a result they worry that if they spend time out of the office people will think they are skiving/not pulling their weight. If we couple this with the guilt woman feel about leaving their kids whilst at work we have an employee that is wracked with constant guilt, hardly a recipe for success in the workplace.

The solution is clear enough, employers must embrace mobile working, if it becomes the norm female presenteeism is likely to subside. While working mothers are never going to find a 100% perfect solution surely this would go someway to easing the pressures of being a working mum in today’s 24/7 working world.

Sue Chambers, a working mum from Macclesfield, and winner of a Microsoft People Moving Business Award in recognition of her mobile working practices, is a strong advocate of this approach. According to Sue, mobile working has helped her to juggle her commitments and to do a better job work-wise: “I’m not tied to a 9-5 desk routine, meaning that people know they can call me at any time of day to demand an answer to whatever crisis may have just arisen. My ability to deal with questions and problems on the spot means that issues are sorted quickly and production runs smoothly. I think there’s a widespread stigma about mobile working, and an assumption that it means slobbing in front of the television shirking work. This should not be true – I like to stay disciplined and presentable so that I’m in the right frame of mind to work professionally. However, I can walk my youngest child to school and enjoy being a parent, knowing that I can then get a full day’s work done.”

The benefits are clear, what’s more women shouldn’t feel they have to wait for their company to sanction mobile working, they shouldn’t be afraid to proactively suggest mobile working to their boss and then prove the benefits by being more productive and avoiding the melt down that threatens every multi-tasking mother.

* - Quoted in “The Guilty Party,” The Observer