Many people can easily do their jobs from home. Apart from enhancing work-life balance for staff, with added health and leisure benefits, and reducing the need to travel, working from home significantly improves productivity, enabling businesses to be more competitive.

Many smarter working practices are very simple to implement, and it is these that organisations are being encouraged to try during Work Wise Week:

• Allowing staff to come in either an hour later or an hour earlier, with a reciprocal hour shift at the end of the day. This would enable staff to avoid the busiest travel times, effectively staggering the rush hour and making the journey far more tolerable for everyone.
• Allowing staff to take a half hour lunch break each day, and then let them leave at 3.00pm on the last day.
• Allowing staff to work from home on Friday May 18, National Work from Home Day. Even a small reduction in the number of people travelling on the roads or by public transport on that day will have a significant effect on congestion and overcrowding.
• During Work Wise Week, ask staff to cancel all external face-to-face staff meetings, and instead hold them by conference call, either video or telephone. This would save time and resources, and reduce congestion and pollution. 
• Where appropriate, allow staff to roster their own shifts during the week.