How to Negotiate a Flexible Work Schedule

How to Negotiate a Flexible Work ScheduleHow to Negotiate a Flexible Work ScheduleMany people have the option of working a flexible schedule which allows them to miss that rough commute to work. Others will have a compressed workweek that enables them to work four, 10-hour days instead of five, 8-hour days. Still, others will work remotely, telecommuting from home. Use these tips to help you negotiate for a flexible work schedule. Advantages of a Flex-Work Schedule The advantages of a flexible work schedule for employees are clear and well-documented. So, plan to negotiate a flexible work schedule with your employer in mind. The negotiation is not about you. Its not about what works best for you and your family. The negotiation is about the advantages to the employer for allowing you to work a flexible schedule. With thoughtfulness and a little creativity, you can turn every advantage to you and your family into an advantage for your employer. Will You Need to Negotiate? Incr easingly, employee-friendly workplaces have flexible work arrangements written into their policies and procedures. Check your employee handbook and talk with Human Resources staff. In one New York publishing company, employees can work from home two days a week. In a large computer company, 55% of the employees telecommute, most of them full-time. According to the Wall Street Journal, Seventy percent of Cisco Systems employees regularly work from home at least 20% of the time. So do 34% of workers at Booz Allen Hamilton and 32% at S.C. Johnson Sons. Ask around in your organization to see if other employees have flexible schedules. Find out what they did to negotiate the schedule and heed their tips for making the schedule work. Organizations with flexible work schedule policies also have guidelines. These often include that employees must have alternative childcare arrangements made, so telecommuting parents are free to work. Others define the availability of the employee for frequ ent communication and require attendance electronically at meetings. Some stipulate the length of time required to respond to communication. Make a Plan to Negotiate a Flexible Schedule Dont approach your boss about a flexible schedule without a plan. You have just one chance to negotiateif your company does not have a policy. Make it easy for the boss to say, yes. Think about what you want to negotiate. What work schedule will provide the work-life balance youd like to achieve? Think about your life and your job. Can you work components of the job from home? If so, how many days would be ideal? Or, will a later start time allow you to drop the kids at daycare? Take a serious look at your life and work habits. Some employees cannot work from home. The laundry is always calling, or bills need to be paid. They find the company of coworkers stimulating and would miss office banter. Ask yourself if you can compartmentalize your life. Employees who do this well are the best candidate s for telecommuting. How the Flexible Schedule Will Benefit Your Employer Once youve created your plan for what you want to negotiate for your flexible schedule, think about how the flexible schedule will benefit your employer. Perhaps you will be able to work for the two hours you now spend commuting. Less stress will make you a better employee. Knowing that you can drop the children at daycare and spielblttchen them up will make you less concerned about their welfare. Many employees find they get more work accomplished by starting early, staying late or telecommuting. Employees find they can accomplish more work when there are fewer interruptions. If telecommuting is your flexible work solution, negotiate around the fact that your employer wont need to supply daily space or an office for you. When you are ready to negotiate, make your case. Offer to try the flexible schedule on a trial basis to reassure the boss, coworkers, and customers that the arrangement benefits all parti es. Write a Plan to Negotiate With Your Employer Your written proposal should include the following Why you want a flexible scheduleHow a flexible schedule will benefit your employerIf youre telecommuting, describe your home workstation, and your equipmentHow you will maintain frequent communication with your boss, customers, and coworkersHow you will accomplish the work and attain your goalsHow you and your manager can regularly review the effectiveness of the flexible work schedule with periodic evaluationThe support you will need from your manager to make the flexible arrangement successful Any needs you have specific to your position and job responsibilities Negotiate With Your Supervisor Assuming you have created a viable plan that benefits both you and your employer, set up a meeting with your supervisor to request a flexible schedule. Keep in mind that your supervisor has the responsibility to carry out an existing company policy and to ensure fairness and consistency across his or her department and other company departments. When you negotiate a flexible schedule, you are not the only consideration. Your written plan, shared with the supervisor, will help your cause.Seek to agree on communication standards, goal achievement assessment, wertzuwachs evaluation markers, assessment of success, and ways to evaluate ongoing success with your manager, customers, and coworkers.Especially important is the feedback loop you establish with your manager so that his or her concerns are addressed. Your manager needs to be able to defend and support your flexible work schedule in your work community. Other employees will soon request the same or similar accommodations. You will want your decisions to be viewed as fair by the other employees. A flexible work schedule can work successfully for all parties. You need to negotiate your case, reassure your employer that you are working and contributing to his best interests, and find ways to measure and publicize the success of the arrangement. You need to assure that communication with coworkers and customers is as successful as before the flexible work schedule. Measure your results. Communicate results. Keep in touch. Attend your weekly meetings. Work the core required business hours. Understand that the responsibility to succeed, when you negotiate and work a flexible schedule, lies squarely in your court.

Heres how to break up with a work bestie

Heres how to break up with a work bestieHeres how to break up with a work bestieEvery professional at every company and with every position they hold require a few necessities. Feedback on their work, the space to be autonomous, the opportunity for growth, a competitive salary and a work bestie. Different from any other friend you might have, this type of interpersonal relationship is your safe harbor, your listening ear, your confidant, and the person who can actually understand what your office life is like since they are a few desks down from us. As career coach and author Mary Camuto explains, these dynamics help us refresh, focus and be productive at work. When theyre healthy, they foster our physical, mental and emotional energy, allowing us to perform at our highest level.But then - quite quickly - they can turn toxic. The tricky part is not only understanding the warning signs when they rear their red flags, but also how to mitigate the situation before it jeopardizes your work or reputation.If youre always unhappy and negative, tread carefullyConsider the brde three conversations you had with your work bestie. What were they about? Did you congratulate one another on a successful project? Or do you primarily complain about your boss and gossip about the one coworker who annoys you? Camuto says when a friendship caters to negativity only, it doesnt elevate your energy, but rather, dampens it. This is when you should tread lightly - and be mindful of your patterns.If you are caught up in your best friends drama and negatively, your own attitude and reputation may now be impacted, she explains. Ask yourself if your friendship is enhancing your work life in positive ways. Ask yourself if you still have positive work relationships with your boss and colleagues.Though it is true we all need friends - bad ones arent helpful to your career or your happiness.If you cant trust them, move onMuch like any other friendship, your work bestie should be someone y ou trust through-and-through, and in all situations. Without this confidence, it makes it impossible to build a deep connection. As professor at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Wendy Osefo says, if information you shared privately becomes public knowledge, it isnt a strong sign. Not only does it show an absence of loyalty, but it can be a clear indicator they are talking poorly when you arent around, too.There are other sneaky ways to betray your confidence, too. Apart from sharing private information, if they steal your ideas and claim them as their own- youre in trouble.Whether they want to get ahead before you or just dont want to see you get ahead, anyone who pulls the rug out from under your chances for growth and advancement isnt a friend, ratgeber and business coach Christine Agro says.If you cant shine on your own, its time to create distanceThough it can be fun to be part of a twosome or feel as if youve met your match at the office, Agro says when someone stands in your shad ow, its tough to shine brightly. Sometimes when a pair of friends are considered twins, they get lumped together, even when they are different. Especially if your so-called other half doesnt quite have the same ambition that you do.If your workplace bestie is a goof-off slacker and everyone thinks you two do everything together and share the same values, if youre planning on growing at your job, its time to put some distance between you two, Agro continues. People assign values and characteristics to us by the people we surround ourselves with.So how do you part ways - or finagle space - without ruffling feathers? Here, a few ideasDont be accusatory or overly emotionalFirst and foremost, take a breather before you lash out. When youre prompted to sever ties because theyre frustrated you or actively upset you, dont start the conversation until youve calmed down. Camuto says there is no need to bring drama into your office, but rather, remain calm and talk privately about your conce rns.You may also be breaking up the friendship outside of work and need to explain your reasons. Assure your friend that you will not gossip about the breakup and that will you will maintain a professional and positive working relationship, she explains. platzset the expectation that your friend will do the same. It may take time to regain trust with others. Focus on work and good interpersonal relationships with everyone.Establish boundariesPerhaps you really adore your work bestie, but you find your interactions dysfunctional in the workplace setting. This situation doesnt call for the severance of ties, but rather, creating clear boundaries.Clarify the aspects of your relationship that will not continue - like exclusive lunches every day sharing complaints and gossip about people, customers, and other departments, Camuto suggests. But then consider what you want to continue What about commuting together, taking breaks together? Will you keep work out of weekend social activities ? Boundaries, ground rules, and honesty are required if you are to continue working in the same organization.Dedicate yourself to workCareer expert Joy Altimare suggests professionals ask themselves one important question is this relationship affecting my work performance and ability to grow? If youre nodding along in agreement, you know it is time to recenter yourself. Instead of explicitly breaking up - shift your priorities at work. After all, you cant ghost them since youll see them every dayVolunteer for more projects that will require you to spend more time with other cross-departmentally. This will help you be more engaged with others, legitimately - thus, causing a natural separation.

These are the happiest countries in the world

These are the happiest countries in the worldThese are the happiest countries in the worldDoes money buy happiness? leid necessarily. Well, certainly not if you look at the UNs World Happiness Report rankings for 2018.The UN considers six different factors - GDP, life expectancy, social support, generosity, freedom, and corruption - across 156 countries when putting together this list.GOBankingRates.com then looked at the rankings anddetermined the average annual wage and unemployment rate for each country (using data from Trading Economics) as well as the monthly cost of a one-bedroom apartment in a city center (using data from Numbeo) to determine if there was a strong correlation between economic factors and overall happiness.So what are the happiest countries and how much money are the people making who live in these places?1. FinlandAverage annual wage $50,0982. NorwayAverage annual wage $67,9643. DenmarkAverage annual wage $79, 5704. IcelandAverage annual wage$73,4315. Switze rlandAverage annual wage$80,0686. NetherlandsAverage annual wage$44,9427. CanadaAverage annual wage$40,6028. New ZealandAverage annual wage$46,7589. SwedenAverage annual wage$43,18110. AustraliaAverage annual wage$48,638Clearly Nordic people have figured out life way better than Americans. The U.S. didnt even crack the top 15. It came in at 18th place despite a GDP per capita of $53,476.Though citizens of the Nordic region pay mora in taxes, have lower GDP per capita than the U.S. and may spend much of the winter in darkness these countries have clearly figured out happiness.Benefits such as basic healthcare in Norway, a stable political and economic climate in Switzerland, and 25 days of paid leave in Sweden contribute to these countries high rankings.