Flexibility for Those In Less-Than-Flexible Positions

By Rebeldad Brian Reid

My last couple of posts have focused on a minority of the workforce -- digital Bedouins such as myself whose job it is to sit behind a computer and think great thoughts. And a good number of readers, both in the comments and in e-mails to me, very politely noted that I have a pretty narrow-minded view of the work world and that the great majority of the country is tied to their job by something more than a Wi-Fi signal.

I'm not purposely ignoring the nurses and dentists and teachers and baristas and law clerks and on and on. I just believe that the fight for flexibility needs to start somewhere, and what better place than those workers whose work life consists of staring at a flickering screen, something that can be done anywhere at any time?

But asking about those who aren't solely computer-oriented people is a heckuva good question, and one without easy answers. The last month has been rich with tales of how difficult it can be to find balance when physical presence is required. A new study shows registered nurses have a hard time finding balance, with half claiming that work impacts their family time at least once a week, and another 41 percent feeling episodic interference.

The problem is straightforward. The solutions are not.

Last month, the Center for Economic and Policy Research put out a detailed report (PDF) on tag-team parenting, in which childcare responsibilities are shifted between parents working largely non-overlapping schedules. While the report suggests that the strategy works if the goal is to keep the kids in parental care as much as possible, it serves to limit the time parents can spend with each other -- a disaster in terms of family stability. The burdens of tag-team parenting are falling on the poorest Americans. Of course, the author, Heather Boushey, concludes that tag-team parenting isn't actually a balance solution. It's further evidence of the problem, she writes:

... even for families who 'choose' tag-team parenting, policymakers should be concerned. If working alternating schedules is the best way for families to provide care, then there may be something wrong with our system of childcare or our workplaces.

Can we change our workplaces? I think we can -- for some jobs -- slowly and steadily and creatively. The sister of one BusinessWeek reporter is thinking about changing the way the U.S. Forest Service works. And I recently had a reason to talk to a pediatrics group in Texas that uses cutting edge electronic medical records and phone service to allow a small army of nurses to take patient calls from home ... using those electronic records to dispense advice that is just as personalized as the advice they'd give in the office with physical charts.

Let me be clear: Nursing will never be a 100 percent work-from-home profession, but if we can see small changes (in favor of flexibility) there, there have got to be other opportunities. I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Can we use technology or creative scheduling to boost balance for those in less-than-flexible careers, or will there always be a class of workers for whom flexibility is a mirage?

Brian Reid writes about parenting and work-family balance. You can read his blog at rebeldad.com.

By Brian Reid |  September 21, 2006; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  Flexibility
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