How To Ask Your Manager For Schedule Change

Exercise you e'er sit at work and think about how much more productive y'all could exist somewhere else? Maybe y'all need more peace and repose than your role can provide. Or maybe yous're so distracted with figuring out how to become your kids from school on time that you hardly get plenty work done to exist dwelling house by dinner.

The traditional 9-to-5 work schedule tin be hard to pull off while maintaining a life outside the office, and a remote work schedule could exist the game-changer y'all're looking for. Merely think: An arrangement that allows you to change your hours or work location to adapt your schedule could mean that you're more focused, productive, and successful at the right times.

And the benefits don't stop with you. For your employer, it means that you'll piece of work in a fashion that maximizes productivity, y'all'll feel more than loyal to the company, and—if flexible schedules extend beyond you—the company volition have another way to concenter elevation talent.

Simply earlier you approach your boss with the thought, you need to take a plan. Here's how to research the different types of remote work schedules available, learn how they could benefit your company, and determine the best way to present your case.

How to Talk to Your Dominate Most a Flex Schedule

Many employers are fearful of remote work schedules because they don't know enough most them. But if yous present the thought to your dominate in a way that highlights how this arrangement would do good the company and your work, it's easier to accomplish an agreement.

Here's how to prepare for the chat:

ane. Assess the Likelihood

The first pace is determining whether a remote work schedule is a realistic possibility or wishful thinking. If your job requires you to constantly supervise other workers —not lead from a distance—a flex schedule probably isn't going to happen. But if your work is more client-facing or artistic, you might find that a 9-to-5 schedule at your desk-bound just isn't as productive.

2. Know What You're Asking For

It's more constructive to come to your boss with solid, logical reasons for wanting a dissimilar schedule than but non wanting to go into work every day. Similarly, you'll want to spell out exactly what blazon of alternate schedule you're asking for and why. (Hint: Make sure it'south realistic and that you're still giving your employer a fair amount of your time.)

The beauty of remote piece of work, though, is that in that location are plenty of options, and they tin be as customizable as you need them to be. Hither are a few types to consider:

The Family Flex Program: Parents know the struggles of getting kids to and from school, activities, and daycare when they piece of work regular business hours. Working remotely can provide more flexibility effectually drib-off and pick-up times, too equally dinnertime, and yous could practice a petty piece of work once the kids become to bed if necessary.
The Shifted Schedule: Not every employee works best during traditional business hours—there are plenty of morning people and night owls who would become a lot more washed with a piece of work schedule that matches their internal clocks. And not only does this requite you the power to work when you're more than focused and energized, it'southward also perfect for working with clients and employees in unlike time zones.
The Three-Day Calendar week: Although the vast majority of our Acceleration Partners' team members piece of work full-time, we do have some employees who work 3 or 4 days a calendar week considering they're not looking for total-time hours. They're yet a vital part of the team and schedule their meetings and coverage accordingly. Working specific days of the calendar week allows employees to dictate the amount of time they're able to devote to their jobs without sacrificing quality.
The Functioning Plan: Some bosses really value face up time, but the notion that time in the office equates to quality work just isn't accurate. Under this flexible work programme, your employer wouldn't dictate when or how yous worked. Instead, you'd exist measured, compensated, and promoted based on results and output.

3. Arrive Enticing

Find specific examples of how a flexible or remote piece of work schedule will do good the company. If you lot're asking to only work four days a week, for instance, explicate how that will salve your boss 20% on salary. If you're asking for dissimilar hours, demonstrate how that volition allow yous to aggrandize your outreach to other time zones. Be sure to justify your request in a way that puts more focus on the company than on you.

4. Typhoon a Proposal

If you want your asking to be taken seriously, treat it like a business system. Create a formal proposal that outlines your asking, your reasoning, your plan of action, your goals, and the ways yous'll be held accountable. Virtually importantly, ask for a trial period. Request a month to try out this new schedule, or start working from abode one twenty-four hour period per week to show you continue to produce results.

5. Set a Meeting

This isn't the type of affair yous should casually bring up during a water cooler conversation. Asking a meeting with your dominate so yous tin can present your proposal and hash out the matter thoroughly. During your chat, highlight the thought of a trial period. Your boss might be more willing to accept a change if it can be reversed.

6. Get Sh*t Done

As you're waiting for approval, focus on meeting your goals, and people will stop worrying about what hours you're in the office. We have a saying at my company that the only degree that matters is a GSD degree. Check in with your boss occasionally to make sure he or she is still happy with your piece of work, and don't do anything to jeopardize your employer's trust.

Flexible work schedules notwithstanding aren't the norm, but they're on the rise. If yous desire to discuss a flex schedule with your boss, be sure to exercise your research on the best blazon of schedule for your company, and highlight all the ways this arrangement would enhance your work and the company as a whole.

Although Acceleration Partners has been a 100% remote piece of work environs for over 13 years, this work structure is increasingly condign a reality for many other companies — especially due to COVID-19.

For more insights into how to aid ensure your business and company culture thrives, even when y'all and your colleagues are working in a remote environment, bank check out our Building a World-Class Visitor in a Virtual Globe webinar series.

Photograph via Dafne Cholet on Flickr.