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Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

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Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#41
post #18

Start my own company and become the boss. ;-) (29 years ago. I guess Em Software is a "lifestyle" company (just 4 of us working out of our homes, so you can discount the anecdata...).)

Everyone pay attention to this comment. All of us here have this option.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#43

I just told my boss I was moving, and let them offer. Working for HP in Atlanta, I'd already proved myself during the '96 Olympics, when even the 12 miles to work was impossible. In 2000, our rent went out of sight; we owned 7 rural acres -- about 800 miles away -- so we just decided to move. I figured my boss would let me telecommute, but I didn't ask for it: I just told him, very honestly, that I was moving, and wh…

Ditto. I moved, and explained I'd love to stay at the company but that the condition was that I work remotely. They accepted.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#44

For me, the number one indicator is what did you do on the last snow day. If you put in an incredibly productive day and wrapped up a bunch of bugs and stories, let’s talk.

I took the day off and had a fantastic time playing outside.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#45

I just told my boss I was moving, and let them offer. Working for HP in Atlanta, I'd already proved myself during the '96 Olympics, when even the 12 miles to work was impossible. In 2000, our rent went out of sight; we owned 7 rural acres -- about 800 miles away -- so we just decided to move. I figured my boss would let me telecommute, but I didn't ask for it: I just told him, very honestly, that I was moving, and wh…

Seems to be quite a common pattern here. So, trying to convince your boss is probably very difficult and maybe even waste of time. Instead just quit and try to find a remote job instead (which might be your current job - just tell your employer that you are quitting because you want a remote job, and they might offer a remote position).

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#46
I used to manage a team with employees over 120 miles away. My VP was against remote employees, but I convinced him to allow my distant employees to work remote 4 days out of the week, and come to the office just on Thursday. The team remained productive and we slowly got approval to avoid even that one day in the office. It was a matter of trust, which was built over time.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#47
If your company doesn’t have a remote culture I have seen people go remote mainly by moving away for family reasons or similar. Then the company has to make a choice.

I don’t think you will have much of a chance of convincing them with arguments about productivity. Otherwise we wouldn’t have loud open offices everywhere.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#48
Short answer: A week or two after I started working remote, my boss realized that I could do it very effectively.

Long answer: I married a medical student, and due the matching process, had very little control over where I would end up moving to. I told my boss, boss's boss, head of the company, ect, that there was a chance that I'd have to move in about a year. Throughout the year, I periodically reminded everyone that I might move.

Once matching happened, I declared where I was moving. Our parent company happened to be local, and we worked closely with a team that was a 60 minute commute to where I was going. We arranged for me to have an office with the team that we worked with; but we all knew that I would primarily telecommute.

Except for a 1-month period of very bad weather, I commuted to my new office 1-2 times a week. It worked very well until our parent company announced they were closing my new office and moving everyone to what would be a 90 minute commute, in rush hour, for me.

I then asked to be a full-time telecommuter, and the answer was, "you work very well remote." A day or two after I packed my office up, our parent company sold us. I never went to the new office, although I honestly thought I was going to go there 1-2 times a month. It was a very nice location, and I was really looking forward to spending the day there when I needed to interact with our team there.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#49

I just told my boss I was moving, and let them offer. Working for HP in Atlanta, I'd already proved myself during the '96 Olympics, when even the 12 miles to work was impossible. In 2000, our rent went out of sight; we owned 7 rural acres -- about 800 miles away -- so we just decided to move. I figured my boss would let me telecommute, but I didn't ask for it: I just told him, very honestly, that I was moving, and wh…

My story is the inverse.

My company moved from Chicago suburbs to Tampa FL and I didn't want to relocate to Tampa.

I was already working 2 days per week from home, so I simply told them I wasn't relocating with the company and I would work remotely. It hardly matters at all since my manager and 2/3 of my direct reports are located in Germany so I would have effectively been remote anyway.

Re: Ask HN: How Would You or Did Convince Your Boss That You Can Work Remote?

#50
post #7

Should you expect a pay cut if you transition from on-site to remote? Someone proposed something like that to me recently, arguing that if the cost of living in my home city is less than in the office city then I shouldn't be paid as much. I'm thinking pay should be based on productivity and value to the company instead of value to me.

> Should you expect a pay cut if you transition from on-site to remote?

No, but you need to realize that you're being paid based on your value to the company.

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