Flexible working practices are surrounded by a confusing jargon that tends to mask the common-sense simplicity of encouraging people to work wherever they feel most productive and, just as importantly, in a way that is efficient for the organisation as a whole. The Scandinavians have been operating in this way for some 12 years now but in the UK the virtual office has only been widely acknowledged in the past five years. Even now, the subject is still surrounded by so much jargon that many still consider it a mere passing trend. However, many organisations have been working flexibly for many years without providing the practice with the terminology and framework that now has sprung up to support it.