Shirley Borrett

Speaking Sessions: The human side of remote working communications

Company: The Telework Association
Job title: Development Director

Shirley is Development Director for the Telework Association, providing information, advice and support on mobile, home-based and flexible ways of working. Since it was established in1993, the Association has been dedicated to the promotion of all forms of teleworking. Shirley practices what she preaches in terms of remote working as her office is now based in a motorhome in which she travels around Europe.

In the 1980s Shirley worked with Digital Equipment at the time when this computer giant was the pioneer of new ways of working. She was part of the program that examined how technology would change the way that work is organised and she conducted research on how secretarial support roles would be affected by the changes.

Since 1990 Shirley has run her own HR and training consultancy, providing advice and support to organisations planning or implementing flexible and/or home working programmes. She has been a researcher for the Future Work Forum at Henley Management College including work on Tomorrow’s Manager. This project, sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and Microsoft, set out to investigate whether managers of flexible workers manage in a different way than traditionally and therefore have a different competence profile.