Do's and Don'ts of Asking to Work From Home

Remote work is a growing trend, providing many benefits, such as reducing your commute time and minimizing interruptions. If you'd like to work from home, take some time to do your research before talking to your boss. Then follow these dos and don'ts to help you make your case.

Don't Rush Into the Conversation

Your boss is more likely to be comfortable with your plan to work from home if you are a trusted employee with a good work ethic. Take a hard look at your office reputation. Are you on time? Do you get along well with your co-workers? Are you known as a hard worker? If you think your reputation is less than stellar in any of these areas, you should work on improving it before suggesting remote work.

Do Have a Plan

Think hard about when you'd like to work from home and how that would affect others at your workplace. The ideal work-from-home plan helps you improve your productivity without hurting anyone else's. Remote work schedules vary, from spending nearly all your time at your home office to spending one day a week at home or flexible scheduling plans with you working from home whenever it's convenient and working at the office when needed. Consider your boss' point of view, and draw up a written proposal specifying when you'd like to work from home. Include information on how you plan to remain in contact with your co-workers and boss while you are remote working.

Don't Lie About Your Reasons

When you meet with your boss to discuss your proposal to work from home, honestly share the reasons why you want to make this change. You likely have both professional and personal reasons. Perhaps you look forward to hours of uninterrupted time to deal with complex assignments, but you also hope to have extra time with your child by reducing your commute. Feel free to share all your reasons even if they are personal. First, it is important for your boss to hear your sincerity, and even if most of your reasons are personal, happy employees are often more productive. Second, if you lie, your real reasons will probably eventually come out and reduce your trustworthiness and the stability of your work-from-home situation.

Do Emphasize the Advantages

Although you don't want to bombard your boss with a lot of research data, it is useful to have a list of advantages handy. Share how those who work from home are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and how productivity often increases when workers move to flexible scheduling plans. Be sure to emphasize most strongly the advantages that your boss will appreciate. Point out that you will be able to think more clearly without routine interruptions. Mention that your stress levels have been high from distractions and long commutes, and that working from home would improve the situation and the quality of your work.

Remember that your boss may be unfamiliar with or wary of remote work, so be flexible in your presentation. Suggest a trial period with regular checkpoints to evaluate the situation. If you are a trustworthy employee with a well-thought-out argument, it's likely your boss will eventually come on board and approve your plan to work from home.

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