How to convince your manager to let you continue to WFH.

Tell them you’re going to leave if you can’t WFH, and mean it. Have an alternative job lined up in case they say no.

- Be really really good at your job

- You don't need to be told what to do all the time.

- You have proven that you can WFH and deliver great results

- You have proven that you have integrity and are available when needed for important discussions, meetings etc.

If you have most of these, you have "leverage". Otherwise it may be tough if your manager doesn't want you to WFH post-pandemic.

Does your manager know that you want to continue to WFH? I wouldn't just slap them with "I got another job lined up, let me WFH" right off the bat. A more reasonable progression may be:

1. Let them know you would like to continue to WFH, and why. Here I agree with others: it should be clear to them that you have maintained or even increased your productivity during the pandemic, and they should want to keep you.

2. See what they say. Are you willing to compromise? If they tell you later that they expect everyone to come back to work, your manager should know that you're not happy.

3. Get another job lined up and negotiate.

Find another company willing to hire you to work full-remote.

Tell your boss that either the company allows you to keep working full-remote or you're leaving.

People are saying be productive but it's going to come down to company policy rather than your direct manager. Unfortunately the only way company policy is influenced is if people leave

Inform him about the offer you get from another company. Let him counter if he wants.

Nothing ever worked better than this.

In any other negotiation you're a beggar.

Turn the tables.

Sometimes this is a middle or upper management concern that line managers don’t really care about. If you tell your manager individually “I’m going to WFH today” they may be okay with it, even if you do so frequently. But if you do something like a recurring calendar event it raises eyebrows at higher levels.

This is about WFH while still living in commuting range, however. I don’t think you could pull this if trying to live in another state.

I feel that my work relationship is like partnership: I provide some value for some cash.

If the company wants to set 'work from office' culture and my WFH attitude will be hard for them, my position will have 'negative effect on the team'. I think it's always better to understand all the effects beforehand to better negotiate.

In the end of the day it's all about the value your team provides in the long term. If you sells that it'll be only increased, so the negotiations will be easier.

This blog post gives a lot of good pointers in favor of WFH. Our startup was founded during the pandemic, and we've managed to grow, recruit and build the product, all while working remotely >>> https://komodor.com/popular/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-a...

Hit them where their brain works - it'll reduce costs. No more air con/heating, office food, rented/bought space, rented/bought equipment (if you're self service), two+ hours each day where you're chilling out with no commute, time per day you can attend to yourself so as to reduce stress... it all adds up.

That said, I haven't seen a remote job work as well as when you're stuck in an office in the trenches, and the casual chats, the occassional "Oh, I noticed that!" moments etc. So I think a mixture is still good.

Just not the conservative 9-5/7 days grind, that's old now.

My wife had a compromised immune system so me being around a lot of sick people is an additional risk for her. So my boss said I can wfh if I want to.

You could also phrase it as an experiment where you (or some) of your team members work from home for awhile. This gives them an “out” if upper management asks questions or doesn’t like it. It also depends on your manager having enough trust from their manager, but the “experiment” angle allowed a few team members to work four days a week instead of five, get approval from HR and so on.

Go for a boil a frog approach. Figure out what you can reasonably ask for and then ask for a more. See what you land on through that negotiation and then gradually increase it. If they’re really reluctant just say “how about we trial it for a month”. Then extend the trial indefinitely.

I first asked if we could try out WFH for a day or two a week, see how it went. I was upfront that my eventual goal was, if it went well, to move out of country.

It did go well, and I did move out of country (only 1 time zone difference)

Consider a hybrid approach as a fallback? I'll come in all week every other week. Or I'll come in 2 days per week.

Your manager might be more open to that kind of an arrangement than fully remote.

There's no convincing at my company because it's too large. They will force me back in the late summer.

The thing is a lot of companies and HR people are betting that once enough people are vaccinated we will come back to normal.

Now let me tell you about normal.

I was in South America when the new strand hit and still is hitting.

Have two close family member that got it.

1/3 of their lungs (CT Scan) was "dead".

These are the people that already got the previous Covid and recovered without any problems.

So don't worry about coming to the office.

We still have 3-4 months until new strand arrive and shake things.

The new strand does not care too much if you are obese or old.

welcome to covid-21

Could you come in twice in one day and then WFH on the remaining days?

Productivity. Prove it with numbers if you can :)

Others have said it but

Be effective at wfh. Take it or leave it.

I'm currently in a situation where my manager is telling me there is a noticeable change in my productivity (for the better) and she thinks I am a better overall employee when I'm remote. Those above her in the food chain however don't see it that way and are eager to re-fill the offices as quickly as possible without getting sued. As it stands she's telling me the best she can do for me is allow me to WFH 2 days a week, under the condition that those 2 days aren't consecutive.

The point I'm trying to make here is that sometimes it's not up to your direct report and you're at the mercy of decisions made by some suits you've never even met before. More fully remote opportunities are popping up on the job market though, and thats something all 3 aforementioned parties are aware of.

Somewhat on a tangent, why do you want to continue WFH? I feel very energised meeting people IRL.