5 ways to convince your boss to let you telecommute
There is an exciting and way overdue shift in the way people are working and it’s creating a flexibility that is increasing people’s control over their own lives and significantly decreasing stress levels. It’s called telecommuting. Approximately a quarter of the workforce in the United States allow some level of flexibility when it comes to working from home or other virtual working arrangements either permanently or occasionally, depending on the nature of the business.
So if you’re considering approaching your boss with a proposal for a telecommuting arrangement make sure you can answer all of his or her questions on how well you’ve prepared for it.
Here are five essentials to help you get out of the office;
Reliable Wi-Fi
If you’re planning on working from home and you don’t live on ‘Desolation Island’, then you should be able to set up suitable and hopefully reliable enough Wi-Fi to get your job done. If however, you are planning a research assignment in Antarctica then a solution could be to invest in a travel router. The best ones are easy to set up and some even double up as a charger for added convenience.
Consistent e-mail communication
Most likely the first thought on your bosses mind when you introduce the concept of your absence from the office will be you disappearing with a cell-phone that regularly goes straight to voicemail. You’ll need to have a plan in place that ensures reliable communication. Having Wi-Fi means easy access to your emails, and this means you can easily communicate with anyone in the office and your clients.
Another great tip is to set up a lead time for answering emails, if you know you will be out all day seeing clients in another country, or will be at your desk every morning then ease the pressure off yourself and the concerns of your boss by agreeing to read and reply to emails at a specified time of the day. Don’t forget to factor in any differences in time zones or you’ll be waking up at 2am to get an email to the office as they’re opening at 9am.
Skype for peace of mind
While video messaging on Skype is an uncomfortable concept to some, that’s not its only purpose. It’s an essential platform for real-time instant messaging with colleagues and clients and adhoc conference calls. Skypeout even lets you make phone calls to other Skype contacts. This is particularly useful to have on your phone as you can literally be anywhere at all and can still be present for that client meeting or important presentation.
Save money on snacks with a Webinar
“How on earth” says your boss “will you be able to host our bi-monthly workshops if you are not here?” Simple. You’ll host a webinar. The word “webinar” a portmanteau of “web”” and seminar”, is just a live seminar or workshop held online instead of in a conference room. A webinar can take any form – workshop, presentation, demonstration or discussion. You can still charge people to participate if there is currently a charge to attend your company events, while saving money on snacks and overhead projectors. Google Hangouts on Air is the most popular way to set up a webinar which will stream you live through your YouTube channel. You can even edit and share copies of the broadcast at a later stage.
Organise your (and your team’s) life
With the prevalence of procrastination and public cloud platforms, there are hundreds of apps and file sharing services designed to help you stay on top of your projects and not miss a deadline or meeting, a phone call or a colleague’s birthday. Google drive, Dropbox, Evernote and OneNote are the most popular, helping you keep everything in place and digital. On many of these useful services you can:
- save important files
- clip research from the internet
- create notes to share or send to other people
- photograph documents and convert them into a note that can be edited
- link relevant notes together
- share files, folders and documents
If you manage a team of people in the office, it can be difficult to remain actively available when you’re telecommuting. This is made much easier with clear goals and constant communication and support which should be mostly initiated by you, from wherever that may be.
