Getting Your Boss to Agree to Telecommuting
Posted September 22nd, 2014
The Bay Area is well known for its terrible commutes. Many people dream of being able to work from home, if not five days a week, at least one or two.
While telecommuting as a whole is becoming more popular throughout the country, some managers and even whole companies are loathe to offer this perk (Some that once allowed it have rescinded this benefit; cue logo for Yahoo.com….)
But many supervisors would be willing to allow their team members to work from home at least part time, so long as they felt comfortable that work would actually get done and productivity would remain the same (or even increase).
Read below for tips on how to get your boss to agree to telecommuting:
- Understand that his main concern is that you’ll sit around on the Internet all day, updating your Facebook status. Or that you’ll head to the movie matinee instead of getting that report in on time. You need to show your boss that the quality of your work as well as the amount of work you do will stay the same or even increase.
- You probably will get more work done. Cisco Systems in 2009 found that workers who telecommuted used about 60 percent of the time they didn’t spend commuting to went back into work actual work!
- The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also found that telecommuters are happier than employees who don’t telecommute. Tell your boss this because any boss worth her salt knows that happy employees are productive employees. Happy employees also tend to be loyal employees, meaning your boss won’t have to go through the considerable trouble or expense of replacing you anytime soon.
- You may miss less work. If you’re not commuting on BART or on a bus, if you’re not working around others, you also won’t catch their colds and flu. Your company and department will save money because you won’t be taking as many sick days.
- If you’re not already showing your boss that you can work well on your own, that you meet – or exceed – deadlines and that your work is the best it can be most of the time, then you need to start demonstrating these pronto. The more independent and trustworthy you are while in sight of your boss, the more likely she is to figure you’ll be the same when working at home alone. If you aren’t or can’t become this type of employee, you can bet your boss will turn you down flat.
- Your boss also may be worried about security. Ease her fears by showing her the anti-virus software you use at home as well as your active firewall settings. Check with your company’s IT department to see if it can provide you with software or hardware that will allow you to access your company’s computer systems securely from home.
- Offer to telecommute part time, as a test. Or set the telecommuting arrangement as a three-month experiment, one both you and your boss agree to revisit at the end of the agreed-upon time frame.
If you’re an IT professional who lives near the Bay Area and you’re looking for new opportunities, send your resume to the recruiters at Bayside Solutions. We can help you take your career to the next level. We look forward to hearing from you.
