Are you dying to work from home but not quite sure how to broach the topic with your boss? Truth be told, some jobs just simply won’t make sense for a WFH situation. If you build cars for a living, you can’t exactly put a Ford together in your living room. But for many of you, working from home, could make total sense.
You’re not alone. In this day and age when you’re super accessible – I’m talking 24/7 here – you’d think working from home would be a total career do…right? Not so fast. Your fabulous work from home idea needs to make sense to you and your boss. In today’s video I’ll walk you through how to have the conversation in a way that makes it dang near impossible for your boss to say ‘no’ to your work from home request.
Be clear on your ‘Why’
You are going to have a really tough time convincing anyone else to go along with your idea if your ‘why’ isn’t rock solid. So think about it. What is driving your desire to work from home? Is it your commute, your work relationships, maybe a personal issue? Whatever it is, first figure out for yourself why you you need this. It will help you figure out if the WFH request is really the right answer vs. another option.
Make it a win for the team
The benefits to you are obvious, you’ll be so much more engaged right?. Any good leader will care about your engagement – but not at the expense of the rest of the team. So, make sure you highlight any wins that are important to your boss. Think cost, productivity, morale. Any wins that fall in that arena and benefits multiple people is worth talking about.
Establish regular check-ins
The biggest concern most leaders have about WFH is “will they really be working?” Ok, ok, that sounds awful I know…but it’s really true. So meet your boss halfway with their concern. Establish regular touch points at 30, 60 and 90 day increments to specifically discuss how they think the WFH arrangement is going. This isn’t a forever thing, just until there is a level of trust and comfort built. They may offer feedback on things they’d like to see more or less of, but the checkpoints also provide opportunities you discuss if this is working for everyone.
Be upfront about whether or not this is a deal breaker
For some of you, working from home is a condition of employment. I get it. If it’s a deal breaker, it shouldn’t be a surprise to your leader. Professionally, be clear that working from home is mission critical for you. One of the most common mistakes I see professionals make is being afraid to ask for what they need. If this is a need vs. a preference, be clear about that. You won’t know what’s possible until you have the candid discussion.
Now comes the fun part, I get to listen to you! So tell me, was this helpful? Leave a comment below, share your thoughts with other viewers and sign up for email updates. You never know how your voice will impact someone’s life. Need some personalized career attention? Work with me and get 10x the career love and attention.
The corporate world needs that brilliance that only you bring. So go out into the world, act with conviction, be courageous and live joyfully every single day.
XOXO,
Adwoa
Adwoa Dadzie is a Vice President of Human Resources at a Fortune 50 company and Corporate Career Strategist. The views expressed in this post are Adwoa’s and do not reflect the views of her employer. Follow her on Twitter @adwoadadzie3, Instagram @adwoadadzie, Periscope @adwoadadzie3, or visit her at adwoadadzie.com.
