Things to consider when asking your boss to let you work from home…
- Cost of Office Space
- Your productivity will increase
- Employee retention
- It’s environmentally friendly
- Ask for a trial period
- Make sure you are available
Don’t make it all about you when asking. Yes, everyone would love to cut out their commute time and work from home but saying that is not the way to convince your boss. Point out why letting employees work from home is beneficial for the boss and the company as a whole instead. Use some of the ideas given below to help swing the idea with your boss.
Cost of Office Space
Offices can save money by not having to provide desks and workspaces for every company employee. For example, KPMG Dublin does not assign desks to employees as for many days of the year; employees are out of the office on tasks such as auditing. If KPMG had to have a desk for everyone, they would need much larger offices which would cost more revenue.
Your productivity will increase
This is most likely the point that your boss will find most hard to believe. What needs to be stressed here is that just because you are not in the office does not mean that you are not working. Many people are not at their most productive between the hours of 9am and 6pm.Working from home gives people the flexibility to work at THEIR most productive time, be it early in the morning or late at night. What’s important is that the work gets done, not where it gets done.
Employee retention will improve and the company will be attractive to prospective employees
Allowing employees to work from home is a benefit that will have two major results for the company. The first is that current employees will be less likely to want to leave a job where they are offered this flexibility. The second is that a company that promotes the fact that employees are allowed to work from home will seem very attractive to prospective employees. For example Best Buy Corporation in America uses their Results Only Work Environment as an added hook to get prospective employees interested in a career with them.
It’s environmentally friendly
Many people can spend up to an hour each way commuting to and from the office each day. Not only does this add up to a huge waste of time, if the person is driving in each day that’s not very good for the environment. Reducing the number of employees working in the office means that less energy will be used which will in turn help the environment and also has the added benefit of reducing costs for the company. By reducing the amount of time employees spend commuting and in the office the company can do their bit for the environment!
Ask for a trial period
Even if your boss agrees in principle to the idea of working from home, it is very unlikely that they will immediately let you pack up your things and work from home immediately and every day. If your boss is against the idea of working from home, they definitely won’t let you do this!! A good idea with both situations is to start off with a trial period, for example agreeing that you can work one day from home for a set period. Make sure to set a review date so you can talk over how the trial went. If it was successful this will increase your chances of being allowed to work from home on a more permanent basis.
Make sure you are available
One factor that can put some employees off the idea of working from home is that they think they will be forgotten if they are not visible around the office every day. Another factor that might put some employees off especially given today’s economic problems is that if cuts have to be made, they will be the first to go if they are working from home.
These reasons should not put anyone off working from home. The way to avoid this is to ensure your boss and colleagues still know that you are working hard even though you are not in the office. Make sure they know that you are still available and be in constant contact through email, calls or instant messaging tools. Doing this has two benefits attached to it. Communicating with your boss ensures they will not forget about you, and making the effort to stay in contact ensures that your boss is aware you are actually doing work at home and not slacking.
When suggesting working from home make sure to point out that you will still be available to come into the office whenever necessary. This could be for meetings or for monthly personal reviews.
Another good idea to suggest is emailing your boss weekly summaries of what you have accomplished and what you have achieved each particular week. This ensures that your boss is aware of the work you have been doing
Finally, if you are allowed to work from home, try to keep background noise to a minimum. If your boss or a client calls they do not want to hear the sound of the washing machine in the background, or the noise of kids playing.Nobody should be aware when they call you that you are working from home and not from the office
