Save time and money by negotiating remote work

If COVID taught us one thing, it’s that remote work is here to stay. And while there are lots of companies forcing their employees to trot back into the office, there’s still a bunch that allow for remote, hybrid, or flexible working. We’re lucky that technology has advanced to allow this more seamlessly. My personality is fairly extrovert so I actually loved working in the office and still find it is great for connecting with teams, building interpersonal communication, running workshops and capability builds, and supporting around key change events and launches. It’s also a great way to be visible and build incredible trusting relationships and connections with stakeholders, peers, colleagues, team members, suppliers, and clients. 

But there were things I always hated: 

• Open plan offices (I get super distracted by noise)
• Air conditioning (I get super distracted by being cold)
• People (I network widely so run into people in hallways, bathrooms, kitchens, and foyers and book a ton of coffee catch ups and lunches so struggled to do focused work)
• Politics (I just want to do good work and help people)
• Hot desking (I just want to have everything I need, all my creature comforts, and come back each day to a workspace set up for my height and device)

I spent time and money commuting; buying coffees, lunches and snacks; buying clothes to wear to the office; and of course, amazing bags and stationery. And there’s still a lot of my personality that is introverted. So now as an independent consultant I work from home 100% of the time and choose when I go onto client sites to deliver workshops, capability, and connections. 

Still, I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve for how you can negotiate more remote work if you’re a salaried or contracting Change Manager. Here they are:

Be willing to work on projects that are regional, interstate, national, or global

If you make it known that you’re open to working on projects that are based in a different place or spread out over multiple places, the likelihood that you can work hybrid is pretty high. After all - most of your stakeholders will probably be based in another place/s so meetings will need to be virtual anyway. But also - if your company wants you onsite they may have to pay for relocation or long-term accommodation or travel, which they may not want to do. Letting them know you’re happy to use your skills and expertise to support that troubled project or high-risk initiative may be the answer they’re looking for and you might be able to do it on your terms.

Rationalise on office size

Even before COVID, many companies were downsizing their offices and reducing the number of hotdesks, meaning some people had to work from home some of the time. One of my workplaces literally had to work out amongst the team for 20% of staff to be at home each day; another simply didn’t have enough car spaces or desks for all the people who worked at that site. It’s ironic to me now that employers want staff onsite 100% of the time given they were pretty happy to save money 5 years ago forcing people to work from home or at the cafe or share zones when desks ran out. If you know this to be the case in your potential or current workplace, use it as a justification for working from home some of the time.

Negotiate hybrid

Plenty of bosses and projects just want you onsite most of the time, so rather than be hard and fast about 100% remote, try to be flexible. As noted above - there’s lots of benefits to being in the office. So you could do 3 days in and 2 days out or vice versa and make it work for you.

Go for roles that are 100% remote

And the alternative is to actually apply for roles that are 100% remote. There may be fewer of them, but hey - someone’s got to do that role so why can’t it be you?

Move to independent consulting

And if all else fails, then of course you can come be an independent consultant like me and just work from home 100% of the time. Making the move to Change Consulting has allowed me to not only build a life of freedom and financial abundance on my terms (I tripled my rates overnight and made six figures in my first calendar year of business!), but enjoy flexibility and flow through my day, my week, my month and my year. To be there for the moments that matter most, to have impact beyond what I ever thought possible and to choose my clients, my work, and my time. I believe every passionate Changie deserves that opportunity - yourself included.

If you missed my free Change Advisor Bootcamp earlier this year where I shared my expert consulting secrets to get a seat at the table, build strong relationships and lead complex change to success as a trusted change advisor, I'm opening up access to the workshop replay video for a super limited time: 

CLICK HERE to watch my free limited-time Change Advisor Bootcamp workshop

Lata xx