I have been working from home full time for the past two years and, apart from a bit of loneliness here and there, I am loving it.
But this is not my first rodeo. In most corporate jobs I’ve held in my 20-year career, I was able to organise one day per week or at least occasional mornings to work from home, to either catch up on work or tackle a bigger task away from the office.
As an easily distracted and chatty person, working in the peace and quiet of my home office does wonders for my productivity.
However, not all flexible work arrangements involve accessing a work-from-home option as a productivity solution. They could also, for example, involve working different hours than the rest of your team for family or other reasons. Either way, working more flexibly can be beneficial to both your wellbeing and your work results.
Now, although we know what the benefits of flexible work arrangements are, sometimes we are a bit apprehensive about applying to access them, especially if the rest of our team works regular office hours. We worry about coming across as the person that needs accommodating and about potentially slowing down our career progression. We also have concerns about how flexibility will work on an operational level, especially if we are leading a team.
If you are a knowledge or white-collar worker, this should all be workable, especially in this day and age. However, in the real world, things are not so simple. Every workplace has its operational challenges and some leaders have face-time preferences.
Now, you can’t control your employer’s entire workplace culture nor your manager’s particular preferences, but there are things that you can control.
Doing the following should increase your chances of getting your flexible work arrangements approved.
1. Be a high performer.
Flexible work arrangements, especially work-from-home arrangements, always involve a bit of trust. If you are underperforming in the office, it will be more difficult to convince your employer that you can achieve your targets in less time or away from the watchful eyes of your manager.
2. Think of flexibility as a team sport.
I heard this phrase on a podcast recently and loved it. And it’s so true – you need to consider the impact your flexibility (such as working away from the office or working less hours) will have on others and build the solutions into your application. For example, who will pick up the slack if you’re not working on Wednesdays or help out with in-office support if you are working remotely on Fridays?
You may not have the perfect answers but a willingness to negotiate is key - flexibility goes both ways.
3. Propose a short trial period.
If this is your first time applying for flexible work, instead of proposing an ongoing arrangement, propose a 3-month or even 1-month trial period to work out the initial difficulties and demonstrate that there is no negative impact on your performance.
4. Focus on output rather than input.
Make sure you are clear on your performance targets and that your application is about how you will continue to meet them, not only about the amount of hours you will work or spend in the office.
True flexibility is more about performance than effort. If you’re interested in exploring this concept, check out a book called The 4 Day Week (by Andre Barnes, with Stephanie Jones) that promotes the concept of increased productivity through a condensed week at the same pay – a very interesting read.
5. Consider the work health and safety implications.
Remember that your employer has a statutory duty of care and even requirements under their workers compensation scheme they must comply with.
If you are proposing to work from home, find out what the home office requirements are before you apply and include your physical set up in your application.
Good luck!