Talk your boss into letting you telework. Make your case and lighten your load.

How do you start your working day? By adding your car to the horrendous traffic on the roads? By squeezing your body onto crowded, expensive, unreliable public transport? Now ask yourself, ‘Has the time come to consider teleworking?’

On average in the UK we spend 7.5 weeks a year commuting to and from work. If we were to spend just one day a week working from home we’d claw back an astonishing 10 days a year.

It’s estimated that about 2 million people telework in the UK. Teleworking or telecommuting is a broad term that includes home-based workers, people working ‘on the road’ (such as sales reps), some of the self-employed and people working in telecentres or telecottages (purpose-built centres). What all these groups have in common is that information and communication technology is used to enable work to be done away from the usual work environment.

It's easy to think of the benefits of teleworking: No battling the traffic. Reduced travelling costs. More time with the children. More productivity at work without the distractions of meetings or interruptions. Less stress.

But can be difficult to talk your boss into letting you work from home. Here are some tips on how to make your case to your boss:

1. Be honest with yourself.
Some people, jobs and tasks are not suitable for teleworking. Assess yourself, your working habits and your job (or parts of your job) and work out whether teleworking is a viable option for you.

2. Write a proposal outlining the business, personal and professional benefits for you teleworking.
You could point out that you'll be able to produce more work by knocking off the 90-minute round-trip commute. Surveys suggest that productivity can increase by between 10 and 40 per cent after teleworking is introduced. You could indicate that you'd be willing to work late on a difficult project if you were given the option of working from home some of the time.

Your goal is to highlight the advantages to your company. Consider building in a review period so that you and your boss can assess how well you new way of working is going.

3. Offer your boss a list of 'productivity measurements.'
The biggest fear bosses have is that you're going to be sitting around drinking tea all day. Your proposal might include, 'I'll deliver this many reports per week' or 'I'll meet these milestones by the first of the month.' Giving a concrete list of what you’ll deliver makes your plan look serious and well thought out.

4. Plan your home office.
Make a list of what you'll need at home (computer equipment, dedicated fax line, phone line etc). Teleworking shouldn’t involve any extra personal costs. Your employer should cover all the equipment, utilities and insurance you’ll need to work from home. They’ll also have to ensure that your home office meets health and safety regulations.

If you get the go-ahead to work from home on a regular basis, contact your mortgage company, tax office and household insurers to inform them of the change to your working patterns. There should be no problem, and in the case of household insurance you may even get a discount, because if you’re in during the day your home is less likely to fall prey to burglars.

It's important to make your home working environment as professional as possible. Decide how you'll stay in touch with colleagues or clients (using a combination of telephone, faxes and email). Come up with a firm schedule: 'I'll be in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and will work from home on the other three days.'

5. Volunteer to be a guinea pig for the rest of the department.
Write up your teleworking experience -- good and bad -- and offer to distribute it as an example of how to create a successful plan.

More

• Read up about flexible working.
  
• Be prepared before you ask for change.
  
• What you can do if your request is refused.

Further Information:

• European Teleworking Online
• TCA – Teleworkers Association