Work a Flextime Schedule

Flextime schedules are becoming more and more common and they come with a lot of great benefits—like time to take care of family responsibilities, less time spent commuting, and increased productivity. If you work for a company that doesn’t have an established flextime program, it can be difficult to ask to change your schedule. Whether you are thinking of working from home a few days a week or working unconventional hours, having a confident discussion with your employer and then executing a flextime schedule with integrity will help you be successful.[1]

Steps

Negotiating a Flextime Schedule at Work

  1. Write down your desired flextime schedule. Think through what your at-home obligations are and what your job at the office requires of you. Prepare a document on the computer with several options fleshed out.[2]
    • For example, maybe you want to pick your child up from school every afternoon at 3 pm. You could propose working from 7 am to 2:30 pm every day.
    • If you have a long commute, you could write out a plan that allows you to work from home 2 days a week, making sure to indicate that you’ll be in the office still for big team meetings.
    • Maybe you would like to work 4 days a week instead of 5. Propose working from 8 am to 6 pm, Monday through Thursday.
    • Questions to consider: can the office function without you being physically present during the 9 am to 5 pm work hours? If not, is there someone else who can take over some of your responsibilities? Will you have better productivity if you’re working from home and not interrupted by your coworkers?
  2. Schedule an appointment to Negotiate with Your Boss. Either send an email or ask your employer in person to set a time to get together to discuss your work schedule. An hour would be a reasonable amount of time for you to go over your proposal and talk through any concerns.[3]
    • Asking for an appointment rather than springing the conversation on your employer gives them time to prepare mentally, too.
  3. Address your desires and present potential concerns. Explain why you want to change from a traditional schedule to a flextime schedule. Be honest about your work-life balance and how working a nontraditional schedule will help make you a happier and more productive employee.[4]
    • For example, if your employer counts on you to open up the office every day, and you want to start working from 10 am to 6 pm, you could propose training another employee to take over that responsibility.
  4. Explain your plan for working a flextime schedule. Things to address include: making sure you will still be able to fulfill all of your employee responsibilities, how you plan to communicate with your employer and coworkers, having a plan to measure your productivity, and the actual hours and days you will be working.[5]
    • The most important thing to remember when proposing your schedule change is to make the benefits to your employer very clear—why is it advantageous to them for you to work a flextime schedule?
  5. Overcome and address objections respectfully. Practice what you can say to common objections so that when they come up in your meeting, you are ready to respond. Be pleasant and inquisitive rather than argumentative or defensive when you respond.[6]
    • For example, if your employer says that they are concerned if you start working flextime that others will want to do the same, you could say something like, “Most employees prefer to work traditional hours, and this flextime schedule would be a good fit for me. Could we give it a try?” Or, “Maybe they will. Working a flextime schedule can make employees happier and more productive. I’d love to help the company figure out if this is something we can implement.”
  6. Agree to a trial period of 3-6 months. If your employer agrees right away to your proposed schedule, ask if you can set a time to get together in 3-6 months to touch base. This gives you an opportunity to share your growth and productivity, and it creates accountability between you and your employer. If your employer is resistant to the change, suggest a trial period as a reasonable way to see if the flextime schedule is feasible for you and the company.[7]
    • Try saying something like, “Could I work my proposed flextime schedule for 3 months? After that time, we could get together to evaluate if it was successful or not.”

Working a Flextime Schedule

  1. Have a Daily Routine that allows you to meet work and personal goals. Make a list of your priorities and of your non-negotiable tasks, like getting the kids off to school in the morning, attending evening classes, and exercising. Plot out your work responsibilities and how you will tackle those items each week.[8]
    • Use a calendar (either on your phone or in a notebook) to block out your schedule. Make your work hours, social commitments, and tasks all different colors in your calendar so you can easily see how your time is being spent.
  2. Communicate often with your coworkers and your employer. If your schedule will vary from week to week, send out a weekly email with your upcoming schedule so your coworkers know when they can reach you. Make sure to respond to phone calls and emails in a timely manner, ideally the same day if that’s possible.[9]
    • You may even want to send weekly updates to your employer detailing what projects you’ve been working on.
  3. Be willing to adjust your schedule. If your weekly team meeting is normally on Wednesdays at 9 am, but that changes to Tuesdays at 9 am, which is normally a day you work from home, be flexible and gracious about switching your schedule around if you can. Make your flextime schedule a benefit to your company rather than a hassle to be worked around.[10]
    • Hopefully changes to your schedule won’t happen often. If you find they’re occurring on a weekly basis, it may be appropriate to have another conversation with your employer about consistency and how that impacts your productivity.
  4. Track the time you spend working. Use a time tracking sheet or an app to log your work hours. Put in details about what you did during each work hour. Especially if you’re not working in the office every day, or if you’re there during off-hours when others aren’t around, it’ll be helpful to show your employer what you do on a daily basis.[11]
    • Try turning your phone off or onto airplane mode when you are working so you can really focus. Take initiative with new projects, and make your flextime schedule work for both you and your employer.
    • Your tracked data will be really helpful to share with your employer when you have reviews.
  5. Have regular 6 month check-ins with your employer. Take the initiative to schedule these reviews, and prepare for them by creating a breakdown of the tasks and projects you’re responsible for. If there are new changes you want to make to your flextime schedule, this is a great time to bring them up.
    • Always ask your employer if they are happy with your work or if there is anything else they would like to see from you.

Tips

  • If you want to work from home a few days a week, consider negotiating and “trading in” an upcoming raise for 1 or 2 work-from-home days instead.
  • If you have a hard time staying focused when working from home or when others aren’t around, try identifying the things that distract you (like your phone or emails or even hunger) and work out a plan to address them.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/flexibleschedules
  2. ↑ http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-flextime-schedule-79025.html
  3. ↑ https://beachfleischman.com/entrepreneurs/2017/07/tips-implementing-successful-flex-time-schedule-summer/
  4. ↑ https://beachfleischman.com/entrepreneurs/2017/07/tips-implementing-successful-flex-time-schedule-summer/
  5. ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/159440#
  6. ↑ https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-steps-to-asking-for-the-perfect-flexible-schedule
  7. ↑ https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-steps-to-asking-for-the-perfect-flexible-schedule
  8. ↑ http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-flextime-schedule-79025.html
  9. ↑ https://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/flex-work.htm
  10. ↑ https://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/5-tips-to-make-flextime-work-at-your-company.html
  11. ↑ https://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/flex-work.htm
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Work_a_Flextime_Schedule&oldid=321119"