Winter colds and flu – another business reason to encourage flexible and mobile working

My thanks to my colleague, Ray Fleming, in the Microsoft Education team for keeping us posted on the latest news from the Microsoft IT Forum in Barcelona this week. While Ray has been working hard in the Spanish sunshine, the reality of winter has begun to set in this week in the UK. Short days, long nights, cold weather and the first signs of winter germs making office colleagues sniffle and sneeze their way through the working day.

Therefore, I was amused to come across this article on germs in the workplace, reporting on a research study completed by NTL:Telewest. I am sure that the fact that the sponsor of the research provides business broadband is purely a coincidence. However, it is another example of the productivity gains that can be achieved from deploying flexible and mobile working solutions. We are certainly not advocating that ill people should be made to work but there are advantages in being able to provide those with a cold in the nose with the option of working remotely and thereby reducing the risk of infecting colleagues throughout the office.

Sometimes, the business value of technology can be somewhat unexpected!

If you would like to receive a copy of the Microsoft Flexible Working Solutions for Local and Regional Government – Benefits Paper, developed in collaboration with the Microsoft Local Authority Shared Learning Group, send an email to: lrg@microsoft.com

Posted by Ian