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This morning I needed to forget about work for a while. I got up early and walked to the beach to check the surf. It wasn’t quite doing it, so I went back home just in time to walk the kids to school. I stayed for half an hour just to watch them play, before I went to check the surf for a second time. I took a few calls, walked and talked, and as I looked at the water I felt very grateful for how free I am with my work schedule.
I want to talk to you about how I first negotiated a work-from-home type arrangement, back when I was employed. The lessons here won’t apply to everyone as not all jobs lend themselves to this activity, but you might still learn something. I’m going to help you make the argument that working from home (or at least somewhere other than the office) is very logical, so that your boss will find it hard to say no.
Firstly, know why you want to work from home
You should have a bit of ammunition incase you get asked the question. Maybe you have childcare responsibilities, maybe health issues, maybe you want to spend less time commuting so that you can use your time more wisely. Maybe you want to paint, go to the beach, or just be at home to sign for packages. Figure out why it would work for you.
Now my motivations was to set my own business up. but also help care for the kids. I reckoned that I could work harder from home. Get more done. And free up time so i could work on my side project.
What happened to me?
In 2010, I was working full time at Newcastle University. I had a really enlightened boss called Matt Dunlop, who was Head of Sustainability when I was the Waste Manager. My family situation was changing, we were expecting our first child, we were moving out of the area and I was also exploring setting up my own business. Matt was very supportive.
So, I went in one day and I said, "Look, Matt, I'd like to work one day a month from home. I believe I can get more done at home than I can at the office and I want to use that spare time at home while I'm not commuting to do other things, like be there for my family and work on my business plan for a new business idea.”
He was receptive to this and he said, "How do I know you're going to get as much done at home as you would at the office?". At the time I was writing a tender for the waste management for the university.
Tip one - measure your productivity
I took a leaf out of my brother's book. He works for an organisation that allows their staff to work from home, as long as they produce 10 percent more output. They've got really monitorable and measurable styles of work. Not all employers and jobs are set up in that way where there are very distinct units of work, but I broke my tasks down on a spreadsheet and presented it in this way.
Tip two - offer a trial period
I said to Matt, "Look, this specification for the tender would usually take me a whole week to write at work, maybe more. How about you give me a day at home per week and see how my progress compares?" Matt was sceptical, "Okay, that's fine, but I'm a bit worried for a few reasons". I wanted to make him comfortable with the idea, so I said "Tell you what, let's just do it as a trial. If I can produce the specification for this tender, which would normally take me over a week in the office, in a few days at home, obviously there's no downside for you, because it’s done in much less time.”
He was still reluctant, but accepted the proposal. I said "Let's just trial it, if after a few days over the next month working at home I'm producing between 10 and 30 percent more output, there's no real argument not to allow me to do this". Matt agreed.
Tip three - fewer distractions
Working from home allows you to focus much harder, as long as you sort out the distraction issue. Some people are more easily distracted at home, and some are more easily distracted at work. For some singular task like making a tender or a contract, where your focus is not being diverted, you can really put your mind to work in the peace and quiet of your home.
Tip four - present what you will do at home
For that first couple of months I concentrated on doing work like that. I got in the habit of presenting to Matt the day before I worked from home, showing all of the things I planned to do so that he had a good idea of where we were at. After my day working from home, I said, "Look, this is what I got done. This is what I didn't get done. Any problems with that? Where did I fall down? What more would you like to see?"
Generally, there were no problems, and having the reviews before and after the work-from-home day was key for our communication.
Tip five - build the trust
Over time the trust increased because I was doing good work. I started off doing one day per month at home. Then it became one day every two weeks. Then there was a day working from home every week. Then it became the norm. It became the norm because I was getting so much work done, more than ever before!
Tip six - use the extra time wisely
By saving time on my commute and using my extra time to improve my quality of life, such as spending more time with my family and starting a business, I began to feel more freedom. Of course, I had to be strict with myself and I had to keep focused, I also had to prove to my boss that it was not a mistake to let me work from home. I continued to deliver results to my employers, and that gave me the freedom to deliver results to my personal life too.
Tip seven - be realistic about what you can deliver
Working from home, free from distractions, should allow you to deliver more, but it’s not going to turn you into superman overnight. Don’t try and trick your boss into letting you work from home on the false promise of super-productivity, because if that backfires, you’re going to end up on an even shorter leash. Remember, your goal is to get the work-from-home day as a trial, so don’t make promises that you can’t keep.
