5 steps to negotiate a hybrid work schedule

Given the uptick in return-to-office mandates since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for you to advocate for yourself as an employee who wants hybrid work, but also understand the needs of your employer if you face resistance, a new blog says.

One key to negotiating a hybrid work schedule effectively is to strengthen your ask with “purposeful priming.” Prepare and reiterate key points in an effort to win your manager over to your ideas, suggests the Harvard Business Review blog, When You Want to Be Hybrid, But Your Boss Wants You in the Office, published Thursday.

Here are five strategies to negotiate a hybrid work schedule confidently and respectfully, says blog author Rachel Montañez, a career expert and international professional speaker.

1. Strengthen your ask with purposeful priming

Look for opportunities to prove you’re trustworthy, efficient and productive to help calm fears around remote work concerns. Your boss’s fears about hybrid workplaces may include any negative impact of hybrid on workplace culture, team environment and relationships, communication, and training and mentoring.

For example, can you show you’ve done some of your best work while working remotely? Can you think of times when you’ve deepened connections and built trust while working from home?

Also demonstrate your communication skills through indirect communication like email, text, chat, and videoconferencing. “What are you doing to reduce or streamline meetings, and make them more efficient?” Montañez asked. “How can you show the impact of your efforts?”

Finally, show how you manage your workload and how a hybrid schedule might help. “Proactively documenting your workload makes you and your projects more visible to your manager, which lessens their mental load.”

2. Understand your employer’s side

Remote work is still a young concept.

Speak with key people — such as your manager, clients, and colleagues in human resources — to learn their perspectives on the upsides and downsides of hybrid schedules.

Also, gathering insights from research and data your company may be using to inform its work-from-home policies will also help you build your business case for a shift to hybrid work. Be sure to understand the CEO’s stance and plans around in-person, remote, and hybrid work.

“Being mindful of various perspectives and insights signals you’re operating as an inclusive team player who’s committed to the company’s success and growth,” Montañez said.

Use words that promote an emotional response like ‘feel’ or ‘thoughts.’ For example, you could ask, “How do you feel about my productivity when working remotely?” If your manager voices a concern, you can ask, “What are your thoughts on how I might address this?” Or proactively suggest a solution.

3. Own your rationale(s)

A long commute is often top-of-mind as a reason to not go into the office, but there are other rationales. Try to determine your own rationales. For example, is your team based across different times zones and it would make sense to do some of your work week during times when the office is closed? Perhaps you’re a caregiver to a young child or parent with Alzheimer’s? Maybe you’re managing a medical condition or going through the grieving process.

Whatever your rationale(s), it may pave the way for a short-term trial run while you build the case for a long-term hybrid work arrangement.

4. Propose a thoughtful, logical schedule

Data from Microsoft points to three moments when in-person work is most beneficial:

• strengthening team cohesion
• onboarding to a new role, team, or company
• kicking off a project

If you’re in any of these moments, now may not be the time to request a hybrid work schedule.

Sometimes, the root issue for in-office mandates or manager hesitance to approve a hybrid work schedule is fear over the loss of familiarity and control. One way to help eliminate a bit of fear is to demonstrate intentional planning such as scheduling in-office days when team building, collaborative or creative work is happening, and reserving remote days for independent tasks and critical, analytical thinking.

To further increase buy-in, set a mutually agreeable timeframe to trial your hybrid schedule, setting goals and expectations so you can measure success.

5. Be confident and respectful when making the ask

Schedule an in-person meeting with your manager sometime after your formal annual review period or “a time when your performance and impact shine bright,” Montañez suggested.

It’s important to come across as assertive, thoughtful, and respectful. If your manager is still unmovable, remember change brings resistance.

If your employer rejects your request for a hybrid schedule, turn it into a learning experience. Make sure you understand whether it’s a “no,” or a “not right now.” Is there an opportunity to revisit the discussion? If so, when and on what conditions?

Feature image by iStock.com/Pekic