How ìWorkingî In The Office Isnít The Best Option

British office workers need to rethink how they spend their time in the office, according to the results of a survey commissioned by The Work Foundation and Microsoft (for more information please visit mobile working website www.moof.mobi.)

Of the 1080 office workers who took part, only 11% thought of their offices as a ëcreative environmentí with more than a third labeling their place of work ëuninspiringí.

Friendly colleagues (64%) and a friendly boss (51%) are seen as the most important considerations when looking for a job (aside from salary). If personal relationships are considered so important, why do we spend so much of our time staring at a PC passing up valuable opportunities to interact with fellow workers?

With 78% of the people questioned believing that working out of the office is the future for the workplace there is clearly a desire to move to a new working culture. The survey also revealed that more than half of British office workers would be happier if there was a greater element of mobile working in their jobs, while 16% said that they would actually leave their jobs within six months if their boss wasnít open to flexible working.

ìWe need to redefine the term ëoffice work,íî believes James McCarthy, mobile working expert at Microsoft and the man behind moof.com. ìFar too many of us endure a daily commute, only to sit at our desks and work on jobs that we could do from anywhere with an internet connection. So when in the office, I urge office workers to consider leaving their desks and taking the opportunity to go and interact with their colleagues instead.î

McCarthy argues that office workers should prioritise their working day and use office time for face-to-face meetings and other interpersonal activities saving the reports, presentations and other more cerebral stuff for a location better suited to total concentration.

ìOffice ënoiseí is often seen as a distraction, when itís actually a good barometer for the creativity and energy of an office. For tasks that require total concentration arguably the worst place to be is at your desk. We should be using our office time to make the most of the relationships we have with colleagues.î

Moofer (from the acronym; Mobile Out of Office) is a term used to describe the new breed of worker that sees the office as just one location thatís key to their job rather than the only location. Moofers understand that work is something you do not somewhere you go, they work smarter not harder and have a better work-life balance.

One of the considerations moofers need to think about is the effect that working away from the office can begin to have on inter-personal and team relationships. Using office time more carefully to build and maintain those relationships is potentially a solution to this problem.

ìWork is increasingly about the quality of outputs not just the quantity of inputs, such as time spent at your desk. Giving office-based workers more control over when, where and how they produce good work means being ultra flexible not begrudgingly flexible. This is not to say that time spent in the office is unimportant. It is. But that should be only some of the time, not all of the time, if organisations want the best from their workforce.î adds Nick Isles, Director of Advocacy at The Work Foundation.

With almost half of the 1080 workers questioned feeling that their work-life balance could be improved, McCarthy argues that for many people there is no reason, other than force of habit, to follow established working practices. For many people, a wholesale change in the way workers think about office time could offer surprising benefits. Thatís not to say that such change is possible for everyone and without limitations.

Microsoft are encouraging employees and employers to join the debate at www.moof.com. As well as the full results of the survey (including regional and industry splits) people can blog about their moofing experiences ñ good and bad ñ and share best practice on how to work with more mobility.