By 2024 we’ll be a smaller organisation with fewer buildings that are busy and vibrant places where employees work mobile and flexibly and teams from different services sit side-by-side sharing knowledge and expertise.

It may seem like a different world - and a complete change to how we currently operate – but it is achievable if we work together to make it happen and:

• Find solutions to any issues that may arise together
• Showcase the benefits of working in a more modern way
• Make mobile and flexible working business as usual
• Be prepared when our working environment does change

Altering how we work won’t just help us fit work around our changing lifestyles, it will open up opportunities to form new relationships, collaborate with others, solve problems and spark new ideas.

Our starting point is helping traditional office-based teams embrace the Anytime Anywhere principle of ‘it’s about what you do, not where you do it’. Some ways we can work mobile and flexibly include:

Hot desking

Our aim is for desks to no longer be assigned to individuals. That means we would arrive at work and sit wherever there is a free desk, leaving it clean and clear when we go to a meeting, for lunch, at the end of the day. It also means we are no longer tied to one council building and can work across the Council estate wherever there is a free desk. If you don’t currently hot desk discuss the concept with your colleagues and manager and start by cleaning and clearing desks and look to adopt the hot desking approach.

Off-site including working from home

Research has shown productivity and creativity can significantly increase, and stress and absence levels decrease, if people are allowed to work outside of the traditional office space. That could be at home, in the community or in a local café. If you don’t have a Council smartphone and/or laptop then start discussions with your manager about getting access to technology that will enable you to work outside the Council estate.

Milestones

To help traditional office-based staff embrace new approaches to work, milestones have been circulated to managers to help them prepare their teams so the transition to mobile and flexible working is pain free.

Milestones include:

• Teams understanding the need to keep desks clean and clear when they leave: November 2019 
• Where possible, choose a different desk each day (hot desking): December 2019
• Everyone has an electronic diary that is open and accessible to all: January 2020
• People can work from home and other locations where equipment is available: Ongoing
• Teams work paper lite, scan and save documents online, avoid printing, identify and review processes and facilitate automation: Ongoing
• Olle Anytime Anywhere e-learning module: Ongoing

Want to know more?

Further information on how to embrace these changes will be issued over the coming months. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Anytime Anywhere, want advice on how to start working mobile and flexibly or need support to overcome any hurdles email councilofthefuture@falkirk.gov.uk.