Flextime 101 that Everyone Should Know

Flextime lets employees vary arrival or departure times by agreement with their employer. In its U.S. description, the Department of Labor notes that some policies require prescribed hours and daily “core time.” This concerns working times, not work location or automatically fewer hours.

Jump to: Benefits · Example agreement · Seven qualities · Tools

What is a Flextime Manager? 

A flextime manager coordinates employees' agreed schedules and team coverage. Here, the term describes a responsibility, not a qualification. Creating custom schedules means balancing preferences with coverage. For example, some people prefer working during the day, while others are night owls.

What benefits might flextime offer?

But in the modern environment, it’s important to consider the potential benefits of flextime and assess how flextime could improve your workplace. Flextime may allow employees to feel more in control of their work lives, within agreed schedules and coverage needs.

Enhanced Employee Satisfaction 

Flextime management should account for employees' preferences and coverage needs. By allowing employees to work on agreed schedules they may have more availability for their passions and projects, which may support employee satisfaction.

Attracting Top Talent

Employees may look for companies that care about their employees. Providing flextime can show that your company views employees as valuable talent; assess whether it helps attract applicants.

Boosted Productivity

Employees may feel more alert and focused during certain times of the day. Where coverage allows, using flextime may help employees avoid busy commuting times and spend that time on more important tasks.

Improved Health and Well-being

There are many ways to use flextime; some employers let employees decide when they want to take a break and when to start their work day, within agreed rules. These small changes may support well-being, depending on workload.

Better Utilization Of Office Resources

Flextime concerns working times, not location. If separate hybrid and remote arrangements change office occupancy, companies can assess office spaces for better uses.

Fostering Culture of Trust and Empowerment

Flextime requires companies to trust employees to do good quality work. Employees can be assessed on their quality of work alongside any required time records.

Overall, companies can aim to make employees happy and encourage a livelier environment. In the long run, assess whether these arrangements support recruitment and lower employee turnover.

Illustrative schedule agreement

• Fictitious roles: early, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; late, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Shared core availability: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
• Early role covers 8–10 a.m.; late role covers 4–6 p.m. Record agreed availability in the team calendar.
• Contact the manager before changing a schedule if coverage conflicts. Review the agreement after two weeks.

These times are not universal hours or break rules; actual agreements must specify applicable hours and breaks.

Seven qualities of a successful flextime manager

Not every manager can be a great flextime manager. Here are seven qualities to look for.

Adaptability 

Changing work schedules when needed requires flexibility to adjust policies and strategies. A good flextime manager understands employees' decisions, preferences, and priorities to adjust for them. 

Communication Skills

Flextime managers need communication skills to email, message, and notify employees of schedule changes. They also listen and respond to scheduling feedback.

Empathy 

Understanding both the company's needs and the employee's needs requires empathy toward their individual and team goals. 

Trustworthiness

Honesty makes flextime managers reliable and trustworthy. Employees should feel comfortable enough to express how they feel and what they want. 

Organization Skills

It’s not easy to manage everyone's schedules. This type of manager can keep track of each member's duties. 

Problem-Solving 

When you're balancing company and employee needs, conflicts can happen. Whether meetings have overlapped or deadlines got mixed up due to different work hours, flextime managers need to be able to solve these problems quickly. 

Technological Proficiency 

Digital tools offer help to managers to organize schedules, communicate with employees, and overall give a good sense of what each person is up to. Using these tools can keep a team running smoothly. 

These qualities in a flextime manager show their leadership abilities in a dynamic environment. Their supportive approach and understanding help them connect the team while balancing individual and company needs.

Flextime technology in the modern environment 

In the new workplace, policies and needs quickly change. Choose a limited set of approved tools for the coordination needs below. Use these prompts as a checklist; named tools are optional examples to assess, not verified feature recommendations.

Hybrid Scheduling Solution

Choose an approved way to record agreed schedules, shared availability and coverage; record office days separately if needed.

Remote Access Solutions 

Confirm employer-approved work systems, access methods such as VPNs and cloud services such as Google, and permitted locations.

Time Management Software

TimeCamp and Toggl are optional examples to assess for recording agreed or required hours employees have worked, not to prove employees are focused on tasks.

Communication Tools 

Remote communication apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams are optional examples to assess. Check support to schedule meetings or show others your agreed availability.

Project Management Tools 

Asana and Trello are optional examples to assess for teams to collaborate on projects: check support for tracking deadlines and progress, and viewing who's responsible for which task. These tools may suit cross-functional work teams.

Making sure tasks and projects are getting done in a timely manner within a modern environment involves using a suitable, limited set of approved management and collaboration tools. Keep these in mind for the next time you have a communication problem.