How To Ask Your Boss To Work Remotely

A lot of people, thanks to the pandemic, have been working remotely whether they wanted to or not.

But what if you’ve enjoyed the experience and don’t want to go back to the office, or if you’ve always wanted to work remotely but never been given the chance?

Well, you need to ask your boss if you can work remotely and here’s how to approach it.


How To Ask The Boss If You Can Work Remotely

Not all approaches to the boss are going to be well-received though we expect many bosses will, at least, be open to hybrid jobs now that the pandemic is on the retreat.

Asking Boss

Assuming that you’ve weighed up the pros and cons of remote working for yourself, when you talk to the boss, you need to communicate the benefits to your boss and the company rather than “why you want to work from elsewhere”.

So:

  • Get researching. You want to look at whether or not remote working has ever been part of the company’s plans and, if not, why not? What positions within the company do you interact with? How would that work if you work remotely? If you’ve been remote working due to the pandemic – how’s that been going (good and bad)? What needs improving to make things go smoothly in future?
  • Highlight the benefits to the company. Your boss is not Santa Claus and you need to show how remote working will bring them benefits. You could talk about improved productivity and efficiency (better still, if you’ve been working remotely – you should have evidence of this). You could also talk about how remote working has been shown to positively impact staff retention. You might also talk about burnout and how working from home could reduce the likelihood of burning out.
  • Have the conversation sooner rather than later. The earlier you signal that you want to work remotely, the fewer other people that will already be having that conversation. Even if companies are amenable to the concept of remote working – most are going to baulk at the idea of their whole workforce disappearing overnight.
  • Talk about eco-friendliness. You’re going to save the company money, not just on office space but on their electricity bill, gas bill, etc. too. Better still, you’re going to reduce the emissions from the office and from commuting. If your company likes to boast about its green credentials – use that to help you get what you want.
  • Now talk about you. But don’t talk about how you’re looking forward to breakfast in bed and long afternoons slumped on the couch with your laptop. Talk about the things you’ve achieved in recent history for the company and how working remotely will enable you to deliver even more benefits to the company than you already have done.

If this all sounds like a sales pitch, that’s because it is. 

Your boss is not likely to want to wave a magic wand and let you frolic freely, but give them good, solid business reasons to do so and you may soon be working from where you want to work. 


Final Thoughts

Working remotely is the future for millions of Americans. But if you want that future, today? Then you’re going to have to ask your boss to make it happen.

This doesn’t have to be hard work, you just need to be prepared for the conversation and ensure that you can show why it’s in your boss’s interest for you to spend less time in the office.