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You may love your job, but what if you could work from the comfort of your own home? Working from home, or telecommuting, is the dream for many employees, especially those who have long or difficult commutes to the office. And while many companies have already instituted work-from-home policies, not all of them have — and not all of them realize the benefits of doing so.
Asking your boss to let you work from home may sound like a scary task, but the reality is that telecommuting has many great perks for both employees and employers. Presenting your boss with a well-reasoned argument may just do the trick, and if you do it right, you could be working from home in no time.
Here are 10 tips for convincing your boss to let you work from home or adopt a telecommuting policy, straight from people who have done it and bosses themselves.
The perks your boss will love
It increases productivity.
"[With telecommuting,] driven team members can operate during hours they are most productive. I can write at 5:00 a.m. or 6:00 a.m., for example, or work more in the mornings with technical and demanding tasks, and take meetings, follow up with leads and work on creative projects in the afternoon. This can also help night owls that can't be as productive during daylight hours or early mornings." – Kashanna Evans, founding partner, Kissing Lions Public Relations
It reduces overhead costs.
"It's incredibly cost-effective! I have had telecommuters in the past and have saved, on average, about $12,000 a year per employee. That can pile up, especially over a few years and [with] more than one telecommuter." – Jarred Saba, CEO, Lease Advisors
It helps businesses retain employees.
"Allowing the flexibility and understanding of wanting to work from home improves employee satisfaction, ultimately helping a company retain talent. This idea of talent retention has become important as the economy switches to a job seeker's market. Also, being open to the idea of having employees work from home — even if just part-time — attracts younger talent seeking work flexibility to balance work and personal life." – Tonya Lain, regional vice president, Adecco Staffing
It means fewer sick days.
"The employee is less likely to be absent from work due to illness because working from home reduces stress, allows more time for exercise (again, due to elimination of commuting time) and decreases exposure to germs." – Cynthia Calvert, founder and principal, Workforce 21C
Your employees can work longer.
"I'm never late to work, since I don't have to commute. And, perhaps also a surprise, I actually work longer. My wife and I have the same business hours, but she still has to commute. So, the 40 minutes she spends on the road each day, I spend on work." – Jason Biddle, product data specialist, US Imprints
And as an added bonus, with fewer employees commuting and using electricity and other office resources, it makes your business more environmentally friendly.
How to approach your boss
First, make sure it can work.
"Make sure it is a viable option before you proceed. If your position requires a great deal of personalized communication, either with co-workers or clients, it might not make sense." – Carly Fauth, head of marketing, Money Crashers
Present a thought-out plan.
"When I approached the manager of my team about working from home, I presented a written plan of action and expectations. My plan indicated the resources and technology I had available to support telecommuting, current research on the benefits of telecommuting and how I intended to resolve issues should I incur a problem while working off-site. I also provided how I would safeguard proprietary information." – Dawn C. Reid, senior personal growth and relationship coach, Reid Ready Coaching
Tie it to your scope of work.
"Offer to work with customers, colleagues and vendors that are based overseas. Doing so will necessitate your working at odd hours of the day. Most employers are fine with accommodating your working from home to take calls with overseas resources, and this will get your boss used to your working remotely (out of necessity). After this, it will become much easier for your employer to let you telecommute, in part because you've already proven that you can." – Joseph Terach, CEO, Resume Deli
Do a trial run.
"Ask your boss if you can do a day as a trial. Explain that you're considering asking for permission to work at home, and make it clear that you'd like to try it out as a sort of shake-down cruise. Deliver a high-visibility, important project or deliverable at the end of your day at home. Make it a show-stopping result that will be very impressive." – Bill Horne, owner, William Warren Consulting
Establish a system.
"To work from home effectively, a company must have clearly defined daily or weekly objectives for the employee working from home. In addition, to ensure the employee feels part of the team, a company must have a regular means to communicate — Skype, IM, email, phone calls, texts, videoconferences, etc. Furthermore, employees must understand how what they do impacts the company. Companies that focus on the deliverables have significantly more success with people working from home than those that instead try to monitor the hours the employee actually works." – Tiffany C. Wright, president, The Resourceful CEO
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