How to get a more flexible work schedule

Flexible schedules are one of the most valued employee benefits – workers who have more control over their day and can plan their work around their personal lives tend to be more loyal, more productive, and happier with their jobs and their lives. Flexible schedules can also help you with your job search.

If you’re currently employed and looking for a new job, you might consider asking your current employer for a flexible work schedule. This would free up some additional hours in the day for you to go to job interviews, send resumes, field phone calls from hiring managers, and apply for job postings.

A more flexible schedule might also help you feel better about your current job. If you didn’t have to be there every day for 8 or more hours a day, wouldn’t that make it easier to last through however many months it takes for your next job offer to appear?

Here are a few tips on how to get a flexible work schedule. Whether you want to work fewer hours, work different hours, or work from home, there are ways to get the flexibility you crave – without undermining your career.

• Check with HR. Find out how flexible your employer really is. Go online, read the employee handbook, and talk to an HR representative if needed. Has anyone else in your department gotten permission to have a flexible schedule? What did they do to get it? Is there a process or formal paperwork that you have to fill out? Make sure to go through the right channels and jump through the right hoops – the road to a flexible work schedule is often paved with highly inflexible regulations and bureaucratic hurdles.
• Explain the benefits – to your employer. So you want a flexible schedule. Why should your boss care? Sure, flexible scheduling will be great for you, but what’s in it for the company? Think hard about how you can continue to deliver the same (or better) results while working a flexible schedule. Can you promise to respond to e-mails within 30 minutes, or return phone calls within an hour? Can you promise to be on-site for meetings whenever it is required?
• Put it in writing. Write up a formal proposal requesting a flexible working arrangement. Show your employer that you’ve given some thought to this, that you’re being conscientious, that you will be able to independently fulfill your responsibilities, and that the company will not suffer for giving you the flexibility you want.
• Be clear about what you want. Don’t just say, “I want a more flexible schedule” or “I want to work from home sometimes.” Be specific. Say, “I want to compress my work schedule into four 10-hour days, and be off on Fridays.” Or: “I want to work from home one day a week, and be available remotely from my fully equipped home office.” Give your boss something to say “yes” to – and be clear about exactly what you’re asking your boss to do. The clearer you are about your needs and expectations, the easier it is for your boss to agree.
• For new jobs: don’t ask for flexibility right away. When you’re interviewing for a new job, it’s best to just focus on the work, rather than immediately ask for a flexible schedule. Unless a flexible work arrangement is outlined in the job description, you’re better off keeping your flexibility requests to yourself. Put in a good six months (or more) on the job, show that you’re committed and reliable, prove yourself to the new boss, and then you can start asking to work from home.

Ben Gran is a freelance writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. He is an award-winning blogger who loves to write about careers and the future of work.
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