ABSTRACT
Flexible working requires the right conditions. Creating these is a matter of organizational policy and strategy. Flexible working requires a distinctive type of day-to-day management and supervision. Managers and supervisors work close to the staff, as well as with the production targets, procedures and systems. A critical part of the development of flexible working and top quality staff is the giving of extended responsibility and authority as well as improving and enhancing skills and knowledge. The common factor in each case is the management of the relationships that exist between different organizations. The key to this form of effective flexible working is the ability to: recognize and understand the problems that are inherent; and establish a sufficient quality of personal and professional relationships to overcome the potential blockages and barriers. Flexibility requires a fundamental shift of traditional organizational approaches, from the rigid and hierarchical, to the pursuit of product and service quality and excellence.
