Working from home
Discussion
My role is evolving (slowly) into what was discussed at interview nearly 3 years ago.
I will be going from running one location to three with new teams and more financial responsibility and extra travel. Nothing too dramatic but a few extra hours travel and an extra 120-150 miles on my commute each week.
One day each week would probably offer the opportunity to work from home. Planning, development, admin etc etc For me this would be a perfectly normal thing to do. In the past I worked from home a lot while not on site.
However I would for a local authority and apart from one or two of the top management (i'm a couple of tiers down) working from home is unknown. Sure, a lot of people catch up in the evenings or weekends at home but the concept of "not going to work" is very alien to them. Certainly my line manager always comments its "a day off".
Anyone else experienced the same and found a compelling argument other than the obvious fewer interruptions, more hours put in etc
I will be going from running one location to three with new teams and more financial responsibility and extra travel. Nothing too dramatic but a few extra hours travel and an extra 120-150 miles on my commute each week.
One day each week would probably offer the opportunity to work from home. Planning, development, admin etc etc For me this would be a perfectly normal thing to do. In the past I worked from home a lot while not on site.
However I would for a local authority and apart from one or two of the top management (i'm a couple of tiers down) working from home is unknown. Sure, a lot of people catch up in the evenings or weekends at home but the concept of "not going to work" is very alien to them. Certainly my line manager always comments its "a day off".
Anyone else experienced the same and found a compelling argument other than the obvious fewer interruptions, more hours put in etc
I went from 5 days a week in office to 4, to 3, to maybe one...then maybe once every 2 weeks. The company had a WAH policy (up to 1 day a week with pre-approval) but eventually I took it to the extreme...with the blessing of Directors because they knew when I did work in-office I did 8 hour days. When I WAH I did almost 10 hour days and productivity was off the charts.
Within a more formal LA context your best bet would be to get some research from reputable sources....things like: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/12/18/... and make a positive and reassuring case.
The reason I got away with working at home without resentment from colleagues is that I was always available. Emails were always responded to right away. I always picked up the phone. People could see me putting things on Dropbox early and late. They (and bosses) knew I wasn't taking this piss and not treating it like a holiday where I occasionally did a bit of work to keep up appearances.
Make a good case as to general benefits of WAH. Even if the LA doesn't have a policy specific to that they will have a policy regarding giving employees the opportunity for flexibility. Assert how it will benefit your work-objectives by wasting less time on travel and less distraction. Throw in some side benefits like how it fits in with LA's sustainability policy by reducing travel emissions etc... When you get the opportunity make sure you show that you can be trusted and are hard at work as much, if not more, than your colleagues who are in-office engaging in non-productive behaviors like excessive tea breaks and chit chat.
When I started WAH I would always set out what I was going to be doing that day and at the end of the day I would send a summary of what was accomplished and I usually tried to accomplish more than what I said I would so they could see the productivity advantage.
Within a more formal LA context your best bet would be to get some research from reputable sources....things like: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/12/18/... and make a positive and reassuring case.
The reason I got away with working at home without resentment from colleagues is that I was always available. Emails were always responded to right away. I always picked up the phone. People could see me putting things on Dropbox early and late. They (and bosses) knew I wasn't taking this piss and not treating it like a holiday where I occasionally did a bit of work to keep up appearances.
Make a good case as to general benefits of WAH. Even if the LA doesn't have a policy specific to that they will have a policy regarding giving employees the opportunity for flexibility. Assert how it will benefit your work-objectives by wasting less time on travel and less distraction. Throw in some side benefits like how it fits in with LA's sustainability policy by reducing travel emissions etc... When you get the opportunity make sure you show that you can be trusted and are hard at work as much, if not more, than your colleagues who are in-office engaging in non-productive behaviors like excessive tea breaks and chit chat.
When I started WAH I would always set out what I was going to be doing that day and at the end of the day I would send a summary of what was accomplished and I usually tried to accomplish more than what I said I would so they could see the productivity advantage.
Just leaving this here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_DNpTMKXk
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