How To Ask Your Boss To Keep Working From Home

You work from home 5 days a week, but your boss wants you to return to the office. It's ok, we've all been there before, and it can be a hard conversation to have with your boss. Here are some tips on how to talk to them about not going back and keep working remotely.

While it is easier to work from home than ever before, there are some bosses that just don't understand the value of remote workers. This blog post will teach you how to ask your boss if you can continue working from home and why this would be beneficial for both parties (or maybe come up with a hybrid work model). 

While a lot of companies have embraced remote work, many still rely on an office setting with everyone crammed into one room together. The main problem with this type of environment is that employees are confined to their own desks - they're not interacting with anyone else unless they make an effort to do so. One study found that offices have become more privatized in recent years as people spend less time socializing, which means they aren't getting any opportunity for casual conversation or face

Tips When Talking With Your Boss

• Reiterate that work from home is beneficial because it's more productive and saves time. You will have fewer distractions which means an increase in your work quality.
• Emphasize how remote work can benefit them as well; for example, you're not going to take any sick days or come into work late if there isn't a need to.
• Be honest with them. If work from home isn't an option for the company, then work to be a remote worker instead of going into the office.
• Offer solutions to how you can work remotely and still have face time with your boss. For example, suggest video calls or Skype meetings when possible.
• Talk about how working remotely is a way to work more efficiently. You're going to work harder because you want your work from home experience to work well for the company too.
• Offer solutions on how they can help keep in touch with you when remote work is available, like Slack or an email newsletter that includes important updates and deadlines.
• Offer some of the downsides of working remotely, like feeling isolated or not always available to work when needed.
• Be honest with your boss and tell them that it's difficult for you too, but the benefits of work from home are worth it in the end.

Make It A Win-Win Situation

Investing in remote work can be a win/win situation for both employer and employee, so make sure you have a good work from home experience. Before you let your boss tell you to return to work in the office, consider how your work from home job will benefit the company.

A few things to think about:

• What would you do if work from home isn't an option for the company?
• Why is remote work more beneficial than working in the office?
• How can your boss be involved with work from home and still keep up with what's going on?
• What are the benefits of work from home?
• How could work from home go wrong, and what should you do about it?
• Have you ever tried working remotely with your company or boss before? What was the experience like for both parties?

Ask For The Work From Home Training Too

Of course you still need to maintain and improve your skills as work. So what better way to do this than with online training from home. Ask your boss to invest in your skills by letting you take online courses that directly translate into improved productivity (here's an email template for this).

Popular courses for remote workers include:

• How to manage remote teams
• Cybersecurity - Think before you click
• Microsoft skills training
• Personal development courses

Ready To Try?

You might think the only way to work from home is to have a remote job position. But, there are plenty of ways for people who do not have a remote job position to work from home part-time or full-time! Have you told your boss that you don't want to go back into an office and prefer staying at home? It may seem scary - but just give it a try.

Talk with them about how much more productive you'll be when working in your own environment where distractions are less likely, and talk about what type of responsibilities they think could still be done remotely (can someone else handle customer service while keeping customers updated on the status?). If all goes well, then congratulations!