WEBVTT - How to ask to work from home

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>This week we're going to be talking about remote work.

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<v Speaker 1>Lots of people work remotely these days, at least occasionally,

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<v Speaker 1>and for many people, working somewhere other than their office

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<v Speaker 1>from time to time, whether that's from home or coffee

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<v Speaker 1>shop or coworking space can boost productivity. Today's tip is

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<v Speaker 1>about how to negotiate such a flexible working arrangement for yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>I study the annual American Time You Survey when it's

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<v Speaker 1>released each June, and each year, the survey reports that

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<v Speaker 1>some high number of people do some of their work

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<v Speaker 1>at a place other than their main workplace. Some headlines

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<v Speaker 1>coming out of these surveys have touted huge numbers of

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<v Speaker 1>people working from home, but this is often confusing issues.

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<v Speaker 1>Many salaried employees who have laptops are smart owns send

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<v Speaker 1>emails outside of work hours. If you email a team

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<v Speaker 1>members something in the morning before you head to work,

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<v Speaker 1>you are technically working from home, but it's not the

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<v Speaker 1>way we often think of the definition, which is doing

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<v Speaker 1>your job from a home office during regular work hours.

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<v Speaker 1>As a long time work from home person. I have

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<v Speaker 1>to say there are a lot of upsides to working

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<v Speaker 1>this way, namely at home. My home office is set

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<v Speaker 1>up exactly as I like it. The temperature doesn't make

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<v Speaker 1>me freeze, I don't have to wear uncomfortable clothes, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not worried about people looking over my shoulder, and I

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<v Speaker 1>keep my papers in desk exactly as I want them,

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<v Speaker 1>without worrying about how it looks. No one stops by

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<v Speaker 1>to ask me about some rant that's gone viral on

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook when I am supposed to be working. Plus no commute,

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<v Speaker 1>this saves an incredible amount of time. Since I use

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<v Speaker 1>some of this time to work, I probably get more

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<v Speaker 1>done than I wouldn't in office. Plenty of other people

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<v Speaker 1>have discovered the same thing, but I know a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of traditional types believe that the sort of work they

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<v Speaker 1>do just can't be done remotely. Sometimes, even people who

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<v Speaker 1>think of themselves as bucking the status quo frown on

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<v Speaker 1>remote work because of some research that appears to find

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<v Speaker 1>that people are more innovative working together face to face.

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<v Speaker 1>That was at least the reasoning Yahoo gave for canceling

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<v Speaker 1>work from home arrangements a few years ago. But I

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<v Speaker 1>think a lot of this controversy about working from home

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<v Speaker 1>miss is the point, but because it comes from either

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<v Speaker 1>or thinking. Remote work doesn't have to be all or nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>It's great to work with your colleagues face to face.

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<v Speaker 1>People come up with all sorts of great ideas when

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<v Speaker 1>they interact in person. I also think that in many

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge based jobs, five days a week is probably overkill.

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<v Speaker 1>People need time for quiet, focused work too. Plus, if

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<v Speaker 1>you report to an office just to email and call

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<v Speaker 1>people in other places, this is incredibly inefficient from a

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<v Speaker 1>time perspective and an environmental perspective. For most people with

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge type jobs, the best choice is probably somewhere in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle, maybe working from home or a coffee shop

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<v Speaker 1>twice week and from the office three days a week.

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<v Speaker 1>That way, you can do focused work at home and

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<v Speaker 1>collaborative work at the office. This is the best of

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<v Speaker 1>both worlds. The question is how to get there. How

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<v Speaker 1>can you negotiate the ability to work from home when

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<v Speaker 1>you need to or at least one to two days

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<v Speaker 1>a week. As with most things, the easiest time to

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<v Speaker 1>negotiate is when you've been offered a job but haven't

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<v Speaker 1>accepted yet. In that situation, you might be best off

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<v Speaker 1>acting like you assume flexibility is part of the package,

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<v Speaker 1>but you just want to confirm it. In my last job,

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<v Speaker 1>you might say, I found I worked best when I

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<v Speaker 1>work from home twice a week. One of the reasons

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<v Speaker 1>I admire this company is its flexibility, So I just

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<v Speaker 1>want to confirm that you're good with me continuing to

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<v Speaker 1>work how I work best. Then see what happens. It

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<v Speaker 1>might be good to get it in writing, too, as

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<v Speaker 1>managers can change. If it's written into your job description

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<v Speaker 1>that this job can be done remotely half the time,

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<v Speaker 1>you're in a much stronger position to push back on

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<v Speaker 1>unpleasant surprises. If you're already in a job, this is trickier,

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<v Speaker 1>but it can still be done. Look around and see

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<v Speaker 1>if anyone else around you is working from home. If so,

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<v Speaker 1>you've probably got good odds. Just ask your manager to

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<v Speaker 1>clarify what her preferences are about this. You might learn

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<v Speaker 1>that your manager really wants to restrict working from home

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<v Speaker 1>to people who have been with the company for a

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<v Speaker 1>year or two so she trusts them, or who've got

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<v Speaker 1>top performance review ratings. If so, then you do what

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<v Speaker 1>you need to to get yourself into the category of

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<v Speaker 1>people who can work from home when they need to.

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<v Speaker 1>If she's reluctant, or if you're a pioneer in your

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<v Speaker 1>office in this regard, make sure your arguments stay focused

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<v Speaker 1>on things that matter to your manager. While your boss

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<v Speaker 1>probably likes you as a person, your unhappiness with your

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<v Speaker 1>long commute, or your discomfort and business clothes, or your

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<v Speaker 1>desire to make a five pm Thursday yoga class is

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<v Speaker 1>not really her big concern. Your boss fundamentally needs you

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<v Speaker 1>to make her numbers, So how will your flexibility help

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<v Speaker 1>with this? One option, if you know budgets are tight,

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<v Speaker 1>is to ask to work from home regularly in lieu

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<v Speaker 1>of an expected race. The rays cost your boss money,

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<v Speaker 1>while working from home does not, so that might seem

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<v Speaker 1>like a win win. Or you might take on a

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<v Speaker 1>task that she's been having trouble assigning. If you work

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<v Speaker 1>from home twice a week and you have a long commute,

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<v Speaker 1>you might be able to start work earlier on those

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<v Speaker 1>two days since you're not commuting, and you could use

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<v Speaker 1>that time to take on the task that she was

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<v Speaker 1>thinking she'd have to assign to a contractor Again, win

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<v Speaker 1>win for everyone. If she's still on the fence, ask

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<v Speaker 1>for a trial period, say two months. You agree that

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<v Speaker 1>you'll work remotely one day a week for the next

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<v Speaker 1>eight weeks, and then check in to see how it's going.

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<v Speaker 1>It goes without saying that you should then make sure

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<v Speaker 1>the next few weeks are among the most productive of

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<v Speaker 1>your life. Try turning in some really big stuff on

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<v Speaker 1>the days you're working from home. You want to nip

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<v Speaker 1>any concerns right in the bud. And if you are

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<v Speaker 1>a manager and you're listening to this, I really hope

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<v Speaker 1>you will consider rethinking what absolutely has to be done

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<v Speaker 1>in the office and what does not. Yes, it can

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<v Speaker 1>be slightly more challenging to manage remote workers than others,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you're a good manager, this won't be a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Focus on results. When something goes awry when someone is

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<v Speaker 1>working from home, it's generally not the working from home

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<v Speaker 1>part that's the problem. It's the employee who's the problem,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is a different matter that you, as a manager,

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<v Speaker 1>need to deal with. If you need a numerical argument

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<v Speaker 1>that flexible work can be good for your team, try this.

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<v Speaker 1>One study found that people who had to work in

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<v Speaker 1>an office at specific times could only work thirty eight

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<v Speaker 1>hours per week before a significant chunk experienced work life conflict.

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<v Speaker 1>When people could work from home on occasion and work flexibly,

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<v Speaker 1>this number rose to fifty seven hours a week. That

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<v Speaker 1>is a full More flexibility means you can get more

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<v Speaker 1>work out of people, and yet you still look like

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<v Speaker 1>a hero. You really don't have much to lose, so

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<v Speaker 1>why not give it a shot. In the meantime. This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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