Telecommuting Proposal: How Many
Days Working
from Home Should You Request?
If you’re excited about the prospect of
telecommuting, you may have blissful visions of working
from home five days a week, with occasional trips into
the office for meetings.
Or maybe your notion is to propose telecommuting five days
a week, leaving you room to negotiate fewer days if the
full-time, work-from-home pitch is rejected.
Wise strategies? Or career peril?
(Note: For this discussion, we are not addressing
independent sales reps, telecommuters who live very far
from the main office, e.g., out-of-state, and certain
self-employed individuals. Most of these workers operate
out of a home office on a full-time basis.)
Telecommuting: Who's Doing What and Why
First, consider the norm. Most employed
telecommuters work from home one to three days a week
and go to the office the remaining days.
The reasons may be many and varied, but here are two
common ones.
1. Face time: Right or wrong,
“face time” still
has measurable impact on how you and your work are
perceived.
Without enough visibility, access, and concurrent
involvement, you will undoubtedly miss out on
information and opportunities that maintain and advance
your career.
“Out of sight/out of mind” is real, so regular weekly
“appearances” are still important.
Most managers, however willing they are to allow their
employees to telecommute, still want face-to-face
communication on a regular basis. It provides them with
a degree of needed comfort and control.
Bottom-line: Your manager is likely to be more
agreeable to your telecommuting proposal if you suggest
one or two days a week working from home to start.
To allow room to negotiate, propose two or
three days a week so you can negotiate to one or
two days.
2. Isolation: This is a common experience among
telecommuters.
Even if you have a dreadful commute to the office or
work very well independently, working from home alone
five days a week, week in and week out, is very
isolating.
Camaraderie and professional interaction are necessary
energizers in the actual work output and the workday of
most people.
Bottom-line: Going into the office two or three
days a week makes a measurable difference in keeping
telecommuters feeling connected.
Telecommuting Proposal Strategy Tip
Propose one, two, or at the most, three telecommuting
days. One day is a safe start, especially if your
manager
is apprehensive; it makes for a good trial.
Oh—and don’t suggest Mondays.
“A year ago, I used the [your] method to secure a one day telework arrangement,
which at the time was a first for this
department.
Last month, I submitted a new
proposal to extend that arrangement to two days and just heard that it's been granted effective
immediately (with the potential to add a third day in
three months).
My manager specifically mentioned how he appreciated
the formal proposal I had submitted; it demonstrated
to him that I had fully thought through what I was
asking. I couldn't have done it without your guidance.
Thank you - you made this so easy!”
Kacie
Harkins,
Product Development Manager, The Chickering Group, An
Aetna Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Easiest Way to Write a Convincing Proposal
 Like
Kacie, above, If you want an easy way to put
together a professional, organized, convincing proposal
to telecommute, order the Telecommuting
Proposal Package.
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Related articles:
Telecommuting Full Time and Long-Distance: Can It Be
Done?
Telecommuting Proposal Writing Tip: Equipment
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