Working remotely has become very common these days, especially after the pandemic. In fact, many businesses decided to downsize and allow people to work from home, thus moving to smaller offices and saving money.
This also allows employees to save time commuting and focus more on the job itself.
However, not all business owners agree to remote work and still require employees to work from the office. If you are one of those employees I got you covered. So, what to do if your boss doesn’t let you work from home? Here are some tips and tricks!
A good idea is to talk with your boss and show them your track record and the overall value you provide to the company. You need to show them that yes, you’re a great asset for the business, and working from home will only make things easier.
It will allow you to save time on commuting and other tasks, time that you can pour into your work. In doing so, you will make it simpler for the boss to understand that if you work from home, it’s very advantageous for him or her.
Also, if you have a great track record of not letting your employer down, you can highlight that fact. If you have not let him or her down before, why would you do it now? This could help you if your boss doesn’t allow you to work from home.
If you want to seem busy when working from home, then here is how to do it.
Ask for a trial period
When you see that your boss is not that happy with the idea of remote work, a good way to make up your boss’ mind is by asking for a trial period. Most of the time bosses will not be ok with remote work because they think you will not pay as much attention to your tasks. That might happen especially if you have kids or you let yourself distracted by various tasks.
But by asking for a trial period you can prove that working from home is beneficial. Both to you and your employer.
This trial period is great because it shows your boss the type of value and what performance you can provide while working from home. Focus on showing your business that whenever you work from home you have even more productivity and a better workflow. Once you show him/her that, they will most likely agree to the work-from-home idea.
Show that you have a proper work from home setup
One of the reasons why bosses might not be ok with remote work is because they feel employees don’t have an adequate work-from-home setup. They know that the office offers all those tools needed to work without any issues.
If you work from your couch in your pajamas, then that might send the wrong signal. It may even make you lazy, too.
However, if you show that your home office setup has great internet, a proper computer, and all the necessary software, that might persuade your boss to give the work-from-home idea a shot.
This will also send a professional message to both coworkers and clients. If you have a clean, minimalist home office that shows that you have everything under control. Also, make sure your background is well-organized as that also shows your proper home office setup.
If you are looking for a home office starter pack, then see what you need to get going here.
Share the benefits of remote work with your boss
A study posted on CNN shows that companies can easily save $11k or more as a business every year just by allowing an employee to work from home from time to time. On top of that, you can show that working from home makes employees happy, and that reflects in their overall productivity and value.
Plus, this is an ideal way to save time, while also increasing the employee retention rate.
There are tons of benefits to working from home and the better you can show that to your boss the better. This can persuade your boss who doesn’t let you work from home to reconsider.
Source: https://www.flexjobs.com/2017-State-of-Telecommuting-US/
Create a plan with all the details
You can’t just ask a boss to work from home without a proper plan. When you show the plan you devised, it becomes easier to persuade your boss, otherwise just asking them won’t garner the expected results. With that in mind, you want to show when you will be online, the timeline you prefer, how you will work, what tools you will use for communication, etc.
Showing that your presence will be very similar or identical and you get to continue helping everyone else is definitely going to come in handy. It’s never easy to show a boss that you can provide great value remotely, but when you set the right expectations they might be more inclined to give it a shot.
Explain your own motivation
It’s a great idea to show what motivates you and why you want to work from home. Things like a lack of commuting, flexible hours, and being able to spend more time with your family will certainly help.
These will motivate you to deliver great results and value in the long term for the company. Remember, your boss always wants to see how this benefits the overall business, so always focus your presentation on their benefit. That way you can increase the chances of actively working from home.
The more you can convince your boss of the output you are generating from working from home, the more likely you are to get approval.
Taking a working sick day
I don’t really recommend this. But it can work in your favor by working on a day when you are sick. What this does is it shows what kind of work you can offer when you’re at home.
Granted, it means you’re going to waste a sick day for it even if you’re working, yet it also shows your boss the benefits that you can provide. And that’s exactly what you want to focus on since it just makes the entire process a whole lot easier. It’s not the first thing you need to do, try the other ideas and leave this as a last resort.
But it can be really effective to prove your point.
Prepare a plan B if your boss doesn't allow you to work from home
Even after showing your boss all the benefits of remote work and how this can help the business, you’ll notice that some bosses are still not ok with the idea of working from home.
When that happens, you do want to ensure you prepare a plan B. A good rule of thumb here is to show alternative methods, like going home earlier a day or two a week and working from there, just to let them see how beneficial remote work can be for you.
All these ideas are great if you want to show your boss the true value you can provide while working from home. Even if companies are more inclined to accept remote work, there are still plenty of worries some bosses have and thus they prevent the idea of working from home.
So it’s a very good option to just focus on showcasing the benefits, having a proper plan, and showing your boss that you can be productive even if you’re not there. As long as you do that, it becomes easier to convince him or her to accept at least a trial period, if not a completely remote work schedule.
My name is Frederik
I am a passionate marketeer who loves the freedom that comes with working from home whenever I choose to do so.
I love getting nerdy with every single detail about making everything related to my home just a tiny bit better.
That is what motivates me to write about home stuff on this blog.