One more day of telecommuting, one less day of work, an early evening leave… 5 Tips for Negotiating Without Embarrassment

Give importance to your work, yes. As long as it does not prevent us from implementing other projects. Decorating the apartment, starting to write a book, taking care of your child… We all have a thousand reasons for wanting to organize our professional time. If any excuse can be valid, negotiations with your employer remain no less difficult, and asking for a day or week of remote work at 80% can be perceived as a lack of commitment from the hierarchy. Under the question mark? “Our culture values ​​the effort and time spent in the office more than the value of the work done or the goals achieved,” comments Carol Meziat, coach and entrepreneur, author of the We Are Not Robots initiative. (1: ) If the British experiments of the four-day week have proven that the productivity of the worker is not necessarily related to the time given to the company, we still need to build a strategy and arm ourselves with patience to receive an adjustment of the agenda. Especially since such requests can cause jealousy of some colleagues who also want it, but do not allow themselves to do it. Convincing your employer that they won’t lose can be tricky, the coach points out. How to put all the odds on your side?

Prepare the site

For Sarah Zituni, founder of Feminist Career Coaching Company MASTER your career, requesting such a schedule adjustment should be planned several weeks or even months in advance. And that by sending or preparing weekly written reports to your superiors, in which we list the tasks we have completed. “We’ll calm him down this way,” Sara Zituni explains. If we later aim for an extra day of remote work, our superior is more likely to agree if he has standards for what we produce during the week.” In these balances, the concept of time spent on production is eliminated. It is only important to show your achievements and your efficiency, your commitment to develop the trust of your boss. And the more we do it in advance, the more likely it is that he will fulfill our request.

Anticipate the manager’s reactions

Such negotiations do not take place in the hallway, and it is important to formalize your approach and schedule a meeting with your manager dedicated to this matter. Flexible working hours are not in the culture of all companies. Your boss may be afraid of setting a precedent. You must be clear. a lot of times a boss will worry about a certain level of fairness and the reaction of other employees,” says Carol Meziat. Being aware of this allows you to put yourself in your shoes, anticipate your problems, and listen during the interview. The goal is to keep communication open with your employer so you can best present your case to them.

Be confident

It will be important to demonstrate confidence during the meeting in question, as defending yourself in negotiations requires confidence in yourself and the value added to your work. “Therefore, you need to know exactly what you are negotiating for (your individual project) and be sure of the quality of your contribution to the company, so that you can convince your interviewer,” advises coach Carol Meziat.

If your desire is to reach 80%, you must also plan to tell stories, ie a strong story, something that sells, around your project outside the office. “If we show our employer that they have nothing to lose, and that you will also do something inspiring, like writing a book or volunteering, they will be more likely to take advantage of it,” assures Sarah Zituni.

Get rid of the guilt

Organizing your schedule can also make you impatient. Feeling guilty and investing less can hurt us during negotiations, but also when our request is accepted. “The feeling of guilt can push us to never dare to say no again. However, it’s not because we’re asking for a favor that we’re owed something, recalls Carol Meziat. We just have to continue to do our job with the same skills as before.” Which will undoubtedly be the case, because someone who wants to work well will continue to do so despite the change in their schedule.

Negotiate a trial

After all, if you have to negotiate telecommuting with a particularly cautious boss, there’s nothing better than offering him a trial period. “This lowers the cost of concessions for the manager and gives him confidence,” says coach Sarah Zituni. He will always have the option to go back to the way he was before if this new arrangement does not suit him.”

If this offer is accepted, however, you should be smart and keep the main tasks of the day at home. For example, organizing team meetings or working on a report that we can present after we return will demonstrate our effectiveness at remote work and remove any impression of uncertainty from our manager.