Do you love your job, but hate the commute or the workplace
setting? Maybe you feel that you’re more
productive when you have uninterrupted time to focus on your tasks. If any of this is true, you may want to think
about asking your employer if you can work from home. Even if you’re skeptical that your boss will
agree, you have nothing to lose by asking.
Before approaching your supervisor about working from home,
it is important to have a plan and a proposal with the benefits to the company
of you working from home. First, make
sure that you could perform all your job duties just as well from a remote
location. If there are parts of your job
that are better done in the office – for example attending certain meetings in
person - you might propose working from home part of the time, and spending the
rest of the week in the office as you currently do.
Secondly, you will want to make sure that you will be able
to access all technology you typically use in the office. Although this is not a comprehensive list and
will vary depending on your job, you will likely need to have a business phone,
copier, fax, printer, a computer, and high speed internet. Will you want your employer to provide this
equipment, or are you willing and able to provide it yourself?
Last, but not least, think about what your work-from-home
experience will really be like for you. You will want to consider the following
questions:
·
Are able to stay focused and stay on task
without direct supervision?
·
What will it be like to lose the social
interaction of being in an office daily?
·
What will you do to prevent feeling
isolated?
·
What difficulties may be created by not
physically being present in the office, and how will you resolve them?
Once you have given this some thought, put together a
written proposal. You will want to
include:
·
What you are proposing (i.e. every day at home,
come in to the office for important meetings, etc.)
·
How it will benefit the company
·
How you will deal with technical needs
·
Answers to any objections you anticipate
·
Questions you still need answers to (like who
pays for equipment)
Schedule time with your manager, and bring two copies of
your proposal with you so that s/he also has a written copy. Present your proposal, and then ask for
feedback. Find out if there are any
outstanding questions your boss would need answered before making a decision
and either answer them right then, or commit to when you will have an answer
for your supervisor.
Finally, do not expect an immediate response from your boss. If you get one – a positive one – great! If you get an immediate “no,” ask what your
manager would need to see from you to reconsider. If your supervisor needs time to think it
over, schedule a follow-up meeting for one week later.
For more career ideas, sign up to listen to the FREE teleseminar (in the right column).
206-999-1192
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