June 10, 2019 • 8 mins
Skipping the commute saves time. Here’s how to negotiate work-from-home days.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
This week we're going to be talking about remote work.
Lots of people work remotely these days, at least occasionally,
and for many people, working somewhere other than their office
(00:24):
from time to time, whether that's from home or coffee
shop or coworking space can boost productivity. Today's tip is
about how to negotiate such a flexible working arrangement for yourself.
I study the annual American Time You Survey when it's
released each June, and each year, the survey reports that
(00:44):
some high number of people do some of their work
at a place other than their main workplace. Some headlines
coming out of these surveys have touted huge numbers of
people working from home, but this is often confusing issues.
Many salaried employees who have laptops are smart owns send
emails outside of work hours. If you email a team
members something in the morning before you head to work,
(01:06):
you are technically working from home, but it's not the
way we often think of the definition, which is doing
your job from a home office during regular work hours.
As a long time work from home person. I have
to say there are a lot of upsides to working
this way, namely at home. My home office is set
up exactly as I like it. The temperature doesn't make
(01:26):
me freeze, I don't have to wear uncomfortable clothes, I'm
not worried about people looking over my shoulder, and I
keep my papers in desk exactly as I want them,
without worrying about how it looks. No one stops by
to ask me about some rant that's gone viral on
Facebook when I am supposed to be working. Plus no commute,
this saves an incredible amount of time. Since I use
(01:49):
some of this time to work, I probably get more
done than I wouldn't in office. Plenty of other people
have discovered the same thing, but I know a lot
of traditional types believe that the sort of work they
do just can't be done remotely. Sometimes, even people who
think of themselves as bucking the status quo frown on
remote work because of some research that appears to find
that people are more innovative working together face to face.
(02:11):
That was at least the reasoning Yahoo gave for canceling
work from home arrangements a few years ago. But I
think a lot of this controversy about working from home
miss is the point, but because it comes from either
or thinking. Remote work doesn't have to be all or nothing.
It's great to work with your colleagues face to face.
People come up with all sorts of great ideas when
they interact in person. I also think that in many
(02:34):
knowledge based jobs, five days a week is probably overkill.
People need time for quiet, focused work too. Plus, if
you report to an office just to email and call
people in other places, this is incredibly inefficient from a
time perspective and an environmental perspective. For most people with
knowledge type jobs, the best choice is probably somewhere in
(02:56):
the middle, maybe working from home or a coffee shop
twice week and from the office three days a week.
That way, you can do focused work at home and
collaborative work at the office. This is the best of
both worlds. The question is how to get there. How
can you negotiate the ability to work from home when
you need to or at least one to two days
(03:18):
a week. As with most things, the easiest time to
negotiate is when you've been offered a job but haven't
accepted yet. In that situation, you might be best off
acting like you assume flexibility is part of the package,
but you just want to confirm it. In my last job,
you might say, I found I worked best when I
work from home twice a week. One of the reasons
I admire this company is its flexibility, So I just
(03:41):
want to confirm that you're good with me continuing to
work how I work best. Then see what happens. It
might be good to get it in writing, too, as
managers can change. If it's written into your job description
that this job can be done remotely half the time,
you're in a much stronger position to push back on
unpleasant surprises. If you're already in a job, this is trickier,
(04:02):
but it can still be done. Look around and see
if anyone else around you is working from home. If so,
you've probably got good odds. Just ask your manager to
clarify what her preferences are about this. You might learn
that your manager really wants to restrict working from home
to people who have been with the company for a
year or two so she trusts them, or who've got
(04:23):
top performance review ratings. If so, then you do what
you need to to get yourself into the category of
people who can work from home when they need to.
If she's reluctant, or if you're a pioneer in your
office in this regard, make sure your arguments stay focused
on things that matter to your manager. While your boss
(04:43):
probably likes you as a person, your unhappiness with your
long commute, or your discomfort and business clothes, or your
desire to make a five pm Thursday yoga class is
not really her big concern. Your boss fundamentally needs you
to make her numbers, So how will your flexibility help
with this? One option, if you know budgets are tight,
(05:04):
is to ask to work from home regularly in lieu
of an expected race. The rays cost your boss money,
while working from home does not, so that might seem
like a win win. Or you might take on a
task that she's been having trouble assigning. If you work
from home twice a week and you have a long commute,
you might be able to start work earlier on those
two days since you're not commuting, and you could use
(05:26):
that time to take on the task that she was
thinking she'd have to assign to a contractor Again, win
win for everyone. If she's still on the fence, ask
for a trial period, say two months. You agree that
you'll work remotely one day a week for the next
eight weeks, and then check in to see how it's going.
It goes without saying that you should then make sure
the next few weeks are among the most productive of
(05:49):
your life. Try turning in some really big stuff on
the days you're working from home. You want to nip
any concerns right in the bud. And if you are
a manager and you're listening to this, I really hope
you will consider rethinking what absolutely has to be done
in the office and what does not. Yes, it can
be slightly more challenging to manage remote workers than others,
(06:10):
but if you're a good manager, this won't be a problem.
Focus on results. When something goes awry when someone is
working from home, it's generally not the working from home
part that's the problem. It's the employee who's the problem,
and that is a different matter that you, as a manager,
need to deal with. If you need a numerical argument
(06:32):
that flexible work can be good for your team, try this.
One study found that people who had to work in
an office at specific times could only work thirty eight
hours per week before a significant chunk experienced work life conflict.
When people could work from home on occasion and work flexibly,
this number rose to fifty seven hours a week. That
(06:54):
is a full More flexibility means you can get more
work out of people, and yet you still look like
a hero. You really don't have much to lose, so
why not give it a shot. In the meantime. This
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear
(07:22):
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
(07:44):
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. H
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
This week we're going to be talking about remote work.
Lots of people work remotely these days, at least occasionally,
and for many people, working somewhere other than their office
(00:24):
from time to time, whether that's from home or coffee
shop or coworking space can boost productivity. Today's tip is
about how to negotiate such a flexible working arrangement for yourself.
I study the annual American Time You Survey when it's
released each June, and each year, the survey reports that
(00:44):
some high number of people do some of their work
at a place other than their main workplace. Some headlines
coming out of these surveys have touted huge numbers of
people working from home, but this is often confusing issues.
Many salaried employees who have laptops are smart owns send
emails outside of work hours. If you email a team
members something in the morning before you head to work,
(01:06):
you are technically working from home, but it's not the
way we often think of the definition, which is doing
your job from a home office during regular work hours.
As a long time work from home person. I have
to say there are a lot of upsides to working
this way, namely at home. My home office is set
up exactly as I like it. The temperature doesn't make
(01:26):
me freeze, I don't have to wear uncomfortable clothes, I'm
not worried about people looking over my shoulder, and I
keep my papers in desk exactly as I want them,
without worrying about how it looks. No one stops by
to ask me about some rant that's gone viral on
Facebook when I am supposed to be working. Plus no commute,
this saves an incredible amount of time. Since I use
(01:49):
some of this time to work, I probably get more
done than I wouldn't in office. Plenty of other people
have discovered the same thing, but I know a lot
of traditional types believe that the sort of work they
do just can't be done remotely. Sometimes, even people who
think of themselves as bucking the status quo frown on
remote work because of some research that appears to find
that people are more innovative working together face to face.
(02:11):
That was at least the reasoning Yahoo gave for canceling
work from home arrangements a few years ago. But I
think a lot of this controversy about working from home
miss is the point, but because it comes from either
or thinking. Remote work doesn't have to be all or nothing.
It's great to work with your colleagues face to face.
People come up with all sorts of great ideas when
they interact in person. I also think that in many
(02:34):
knowledge based jobs, five days a week is probably overkill.
People need time for quiet, focused work too. Plus, if
you report to an office just to email and call
people in other places, this is incredibly inefficient from a
time perspective and an environmental perspective. For most people with
knowledge type jobs, the best choice is probably somewhere in
(02:56):
the middle, maybe working from home or a coffee shop
twice week and from the office three days a week.
That way, you can do focused work at home and
collaborative work at the office. This is the best of
both worlds. The question is how to get there. How
can you negotiate the ability to work from home when
you need to or at least one to two days
(03:18):
a week. As with most things, the easiest time to
negotiate is when you've been offered a job but haven't
accepted yet. In that situation, you might be best off
acting like you assume flexibility is part of the package,
but you just want to confirm it. In my last job,
you might say, I found I worked best when I
work from home twice a week. One of the reasons
I admire this company is its flexibility, So I just
(03:41):
want to confirm that you're good with me continuing to
work how I work best. Then see what happens. It
might be good to get it in writing, too, as
managers can change. If it's written into your job description
that this job can be done remotely half the time,
you're in a much stronger position to push back on
unpleasant surprises. If you're already in a job, this is trickier,
(04:02):
but it can still be done. Look around and see
if anyone else around you is working from home. If so,
you've probably got good odds. Just ask your manager to
clarify what her preferences are about this. You might learn
that your manager really wants to restrict working from home
to people who have been with the company for a
year or two so she trusts them, or who've got
(04:23):
top performance review ratings. If so, then you do what
you need to to get yourself into the category of
people who can work from home when they need to.
If she's reluctant, or if you're a pioneer in your
office in this regard, make sure your arguments stay focused
on things that matter to your manager. While your boss
(04:43):
probably likes you as a person, your unhappiness with your
long commute, or your discomfort and business clothes, or your
desire to make a five pm Thursday yoga class is
not really her big concern. Your boss fundamentally needs you
to make her numbers, So how will your flexibility help
with this? One option, if you know budgets are tight,
(05:04):
is to ask to work from home regularly in lieu
of an expected race. The rays cost your boss money,
while working from home does not, so that might seem
like a win win. Or you might take on a
task that she's been having trouble assigning. If you work
from home twice a week and you have a long commute,
you might be able to start work earlier on those
two days since you're not commuting, and you could use
(05:26):
that time to take on the task that she was
thinking she'd have to assign to a contractor Again, win
win for everyone. If she's still on the fence, ask
for a trial period, say two months. You agree that
you'll work remotely one day a week for the next
eight weeks, and then check in to see how it's going.
It goes without saying that you should then make sure
the next few weeks are among the most productive of
(05:49):
your life. Try turning in some really big stuff on
the days you're working from home. You want to nip
any concerns right in the bud. And if you are
a manager and you're listening to this, I really hope
you will consider rethinking what absolutely has to be done
in the office and what does not. Yes, it can
be slightly more challenging to manage remote workers than others,
(06:10):
but if you're a good manager, this won't be a problem.
Focus on results. When something goes awry when someone is
working from home, it's generally not the working from home
part that's the problem. It's the employee who's the problem,
and that is a different matter that you, as a manager,
need to deal with. If you need a numerical argument
(06:32):
that flexible work can be good for your team, try this.
One study found that people who had to work in
an office at specific times could only work thirty eight
hours per week before a significant chunk experienced work life conflict.
When people could work from home on occasion and work flexibly,
this number rose to fifty seven hours a week. That
(06:54):
is a full More flexibility means you can get more
work out of people, and yet you still look like
a hero. You really don't have much to lose, so
why not give it a shot. In the meantime. This
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear
(07:22):
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
(07:44):
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. H
Before Breakfast News
Host
Laura Vanderkam
Show Links
AboutPopular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com