The Irish workforce has embraced mobile working - defined as spending 10 hours or more out of the office each week - with gusto, despite the face that we lag the rest of Europe in terms of broadband and other technologies that support the practice.

According to Karl McDermott, systems engineering manager with communications equipment maker Cisco, the levels of mobile working in Ireland and Britain are broadly similar at around 30 per cent, despite Ireland trailing our neighbour in the OECD's annual network readiness index.

"It suggests our national character is better disposed to mobile working," says McDermott.

This isn't just some gut feeling being expressed by Cisco executives. The company recently commissioned a study by occupational psychologists Pearn Kandola to identify the psychological profile that is best suited to mobile working and how staff out of the office can best be managed.

The study, Understanding and Managing the Mobile Workforce, found that there are three main challenges for staff working out of the office regularly - balancing work and their personal life, motivating themselves and dealing with a sense of isolation.

Nic Sale, a psychologist with Pearn Kandola who co-authored the study, says that if these factors are left unaddressed, it increases "mental strain on the worker leading to increased stress and ultimately burn-out".

The fact that mobile workers find it hard to switch off at the end of the day, snatching "five minutes" to check e-mail, but also struggling with motivation, may seem like a contradiction.

"Self-motivators frequently put themselves under pressure because they need to be under pressure to be productive," explains Sale. "As a result they are struggling to maintain the balance between work and personal life."

Pearn Kandola warn managers that they must not fall into the trap of treating mobile workers in the same way as office-based employees. Both under- and over-communication will have a negative impact on the success of mobile working.

A lack of regular communication can lead to increased levels of stress and feelings of isolation, whereas micromanagement can undermine trust.

In particular, managers should allow staff to manage their own workload and emphasise the results of their work rather than the activities they carry out to achieve it.

Trust is key because the study identifies five psychological traits of successful mobile workers, principal of which is that they need to be independent decision makers.

"They find it critical that they are trusted and feel trusted to do the job," says Sale.

Other aspects of their personality according to the psychologists is that they are disciplined achievers, stimulation seekers, curious explorers and tough survivors.

Cisco is, of course, pushing the fact that its unified communications technologies, such as instant messaging, video conferencing and collaborative working tools, can reduce the sense of isolation for staff on the road, working from home or seconded to a customer site.

McDermott says that while he deals with customers who are at different stages of implementing mobile working strategies, the majority are still focusing on putting in place the technology infrastructure that will give remote staff the same access to data and other staff members that they have in the office.

Being a seasoned mobile worker himself, McDermott believes advances in technology have really helped tackle the problem of isolation.

"You need to be very independent and very resiliant but you do still need to feel part of the team," says McDermott. "It's great to be able to get people on instant messaging for a conversation and ask them how was the weekend."