Can you get the IT skills you need for flexible working?
Posted 6 August 2008 at 10:06AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online
According to a survey by forecasting think-tank The Centre for Future Studies, shortage of technical skills is preventing many employers from implementing flexible working.
There's no doubt that good IT people are hard to find. Earlier this year, a study by the National Computing Centre claimed that the the IT skills shortage had reached its highest level for ten years. Given that planning and implementing flexible working systems can be a complex issue, it's no wonder that some employers are finding it hard to do.
But there are ways that you can implement flexible working without having to get extra skilled employees in. For example, using products like BT Workspace can give your employees who work away from the office access to vital documents and a shared collaboration area. A BlackBerry can allow your employees to receive email, check contacts and meetings no matter where they are.
These kinds of services make it relatively simple to implement flexible working, but the key thing to remember is that you need to plan in advance if your business is to make the most of them. It's no good if one member of your team is using one team planning system, while another picks something completely different.
So while you can definitely use outsourced services like Workspace to help get around the skills shortage, make sure you have planned out the business elements first - don't leave it all to chance.
Tags: blackberry, bt, bt workspace, flexible working
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