The greatest impediment to employees working from mobile offices is "cultural" fears from managers.
This is one of the key findings of a new study commissioned by Cisco on "understanding and managing the mobile workforce".
According to the study, "South African businesses are in danger of missing out on the benefits offered by mobile workers through the recruitment of inappropriate personalities, poor management, and failure to provide adequate communications resources".
Research indicates a quarter of the world's workforce is expected to be mobile by 2009.
According to Stuart Duff, occupational psychologist and author of the Cisco study, "managers must not fall into the trap of treating mobile workers in the same way as office-based employees". He says the key is to strike a balance between regular commutations and not micromanage people.
"A lack of regular communication can lead to increased levels of stress and feelings of isolation, whereas micromanagement can undermine trust."
The Cisco study points out that those personality types best suited to mobile work are generally self-motivated, resilient, extrovert and independent.
The study recommends that managers of these individuals need to "trust their mobile teams and enable them to manage their own workload, and emphasise deliverables rather than activities".
Harnessing technology
Technology is also seen as a potential enabler of better communication with mobile workers. According to Cisco's report, mobile workers need to be visible within the organisation to prevent them becoming isolated.
"Instant messaging and presence tools are a good way of building a mobile worker's sense of inclusion, and video facilities can reduce feelings of separation by giving them visibility and access to team workers who are working remotely."
Cisco SA senior systems engineer manager Raymond Janse van Rensburg says the technologies needed to backup mobile workers "are readily available" in the country, particularly in urban centres.
"Mobility can give people the opportunity to achieve a better work-life balance," says Janse van Rensburg.
"In SA, where skills are in short supply and issues such as traffic congestion adversely affect productivity, there is ample opportunity for mobility to provide options for workers to maintain productivity and for companies to provide arrangements which support employee satisfaction."
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