Advantages of a Flex-Work Schedule
The advantages of a flexible work schedule for employees are clear and well-documented. So, plan to negotiate a flexible work schedule with your employer in mind.
Will You Need to Negotiate?
Increasingly, employee-friendly workplaces have flexible work arrangements written into their policies and procedures. Check your employee handbook and talk with the Human Resources staff. The trend has been for employers to increasingly support telecommuting and other flexible schedules, at least some of the time. Ask around in your organization to see if other employees have flexible schedules. Find out what they did to negotiate the schedule and heed their tips for making the schedule work. Organizations with flexible work schedule policies also have guidelines. These often include that employees must have alternative childcare arrangements made, so telecommuting parents are free to work. Others define the availability of the employee for frequent communication and require attendance electronically or in-person at meetings. Some stipulate the length of time required to respond to communication.
Make a Plan to Negotiate a Flexible Schedule
Don’t approach your boss about a flexible schedule without a plan. You have just one chance to negotiate if your company does not have a policy. Make it easy for the boss to say, “yes.” Take a serious look at your life and work habits. Some employees cannot work from home. The laundry is always calling, or the bills need to be paid. They find the company of coworkers stimulating and would miss office banter. Ask yourself if you can compartmentalize your life. Employees who do this well are the best candidates for telecommuting.
How the Flexible Schedule Will Benefit Your Employer
Once you’ve created your plan for what you want to negotiate for your flexible schedule, think about how the flexible schedule will benefit your employer. Perhaps you will be able to work for the two hours you now spend commuting. Less stress will make you a better employee. Knowing that you can drop the children at daycare and pick them up will make you less concerned about their welfare. When you are ready to negotiate, make your case. Offer to try the flexible schedule on a trial basis to reassure the boss, coworkers, and customers that the arrangement benefits all parties.
Write a Plan to Negotiate With Your Employer
Your written proposal should include the following:
Why you want a flexible scheduleHow a flexible schedule will benefit your employerIf you’re telecommuting, describe your home workstation, and your equipmentHow you will maintain frequent communication with your boss, customers, and coworkersHow you will accomplish the work and attain your goalsHow you and your manager can regularly review the effectiveness of the flexible work schedule with periodic evaluationThe support you will need from your manager to make the flexible arrangement successfulAny needs you have specific to your position and job responsibilities
Negotiate With Your Supervisor
Assuming you have created a viable plan that benefits both you and your employer, set up a meeting with your supervisor to request a flexible schedule.
Your written plan, shared with the supervisor, will help your cause.Seek to agree on communication standards, goal achievement assessment, performance evaluation markers, assessment of success, and ways to evaluate ongoing success with your manager, customers, and coworkers.Especially important is the feedback loop you establish with your manager so that his or her concerns are addressed. Your manager needs to be able to defend and support your flexible work schedule in your work community. Other employees will soon request the same or similar accommodations. You will want your decisions to be viewed as fair by the other employees.
A flexible work schedule can work successfully for all parties. You need to negotiate your case, reassure your employer that you are working and contributing to his best interests, and find ways to measure and publicize the success of the arrangement. You need to assure that communication with coworkers and customers is as successful as before the flexible work schedule. Measure your results. Communicate results. Keep in touch. Attend your weekly meetings. Work the core required business hours. Understand that the responsibility to succeed, when you negotiate and work a flexible schedule, lies squarely in your court.
