Working from home. These three simple words seem to divide opinion amongst GP partners and practice managers. On the one hand, some see homeworking as disruptive, isolationist and damaging to team morale, while proponents of the idea argue that it’s more productive, boosts flexibility and is generally a better use of time.

Looking at various figures it suggests that the pro-homeworking camp is winning the argument. According to the TUC, more than four million people now ‘regularly’ work from home. What’s more, Ernst & Young recently researched flexible working and concluded that £8.5 billion could be added to the UK through more flexible working and the improvements to performance that could result from it.

So what about PMs? How do people feel about working from home maybe one day a week, one day a fortnight or even just one afternoon a week? A popular thread on the Practice Index Forum, prompted by a PM that had an application under the flexible working regulations knocked back, has looked at this exact topic.

Those that do work from home, either on a pre-agreed timeframe or an ad-hoc basis, do generally seem to be positive about the outcome. Benefits include:

The ability to work without distraction:

• Increased productivity
• The ability to focus on major tasks
• Less need to work overtime as more is achieved within the working week
• Increased concentration

One PM commented: “I work from home one day per week, accessing my PC at work remotely. I find it useful to deal with things that require thought and concentration, and save those tasks up to do at home. I think I achieve about 50% more work in the same time as I would at work as there’s no phone ringing and no interruptions, although I am contactable if necessary. I’m not asked to evidence anything but I always advise that I am working from home; it also allows our assistant manager to take some overall responsibility for the day and be the person on the spot.”

Another said: “I find that a lot of my staff can be quite ‘clingy’ and dependent if I or my deputy are not there to solve their problems for them. If we’re not there they just get on with it and the world doesn’t stop turning!”

Concentration

Many PMs suggest that the biggest benefit of working from home is being able to concentrate. “Recently I’ve been working on a big tender so I’ve been spending the morning at home, then coming into the practice around lunchtime,” a PM told us. “I found that if I spent the whole day working at home it would take me most of the next day to catch up, so I’d lose the benefit. This way I was still in every day, but was able to get enough “quiet time” at home to get the bid done. My partners had no issue with it at all, I just told them that’s what I was going to do.”

This comment raises a good point about needing balance – what works for one person or practice might not work for another. One post said: “In a large practice the practice manager is likely to have a different role from a PM in a small practice, where they are much more likely to be closely involved in the detail of the daily operation of the practice. As such, the impact of the PM not being on-site is more likely to be felt. Having said that, the practice has to be able to function without the PM being there all the time and over-dependence on one person is not a good model.”

Shift of mindset

For a flexible work from home policy to work it often requires a shift in the mindset of partners. Some GPs are concerned about the loss of an integral cog in the practice wheel, so maybe a trial could be suggested to see how things pan out in reality. “Maybe you could suggest a trial – working from home one day per week for three months,” one comment suggested. “If at the end of that time the partners felt like it had caused problems then you would revert to full time in the practice. As someone else previously mentioned, it is a good opportunity for a deputy to step up for the day, thus strengthening contingency arrangements at the practice and you are available via phone.”

If you are flatly refused the option to work from home it’s important that, as a practice manager, you have somewhere quiet to work without interruptions. Shutting doors, hanging a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door, letting staff know you’re not to be disturbed unless it’s absolutely necessary and putting phones on ‘quiet’ mode can all help. Make it a policy so that you can start to enjoy the 40–50% productivity increases that PMs say they achieve at home when in the office.

For home working to succeed, a number of ‘enablers’ need to be in place. Home broadband needs to up to the task, remote access needs to be set up – including all licenses, relevant software needs to be available and you need to think about the work that’s going to be done at home. For example, all paperwork needs to be taken home. PMs tell us that it also pays to check and respond to emails at certain times throughout the day so that there’s no backlog waiting when you get into the office.

Only you know whether or not working from home is right for you, but with careful management, at least having the ability to work from home when required should be considered. This has operational benefits too, such as ensuring a PM can continue with their work if snow closes roads.

For more information on working from home, check out the handy guide produced by ACAS, which you’ll find here.

To read the full thread about PMs working from home, head to the Practice Index Forum here.

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