Flexible Work: How to Get a YES
to Your Request
My bookshelf holds a communications skills reference
that, since 1995, I've used over and over in gearing up
for a crucial conversation.
It’s called, Communicate with Confidence! How to
Say It Right the First Time and Every Time.
In one chapter, Winning People Over to Your Way of
Thinking: Being Persuasive, author Dianna Booher
offers this on-target tip to apply to your flexible work
negotiating efforts:
Show Passion. If
you're not sold on your own idea—sold enough
to...
- find and organize the facts you need,
- develop the strategy to suit your audience,
- prepare the presentation,
- energize your
body,
- select the perfect phrasing,
- anticipate and prepare for objections
—then the
decision makers never will be. (Bold emphasis
mine.)
In one sentence, she has captured the steps it
takes to get a YES to your flexible work proposal.
The
elements she lists are a direct reflection of what is
dished up in my Flexible Work Proposal Packages,
and I'm
convinced that's why so many of its users get their manager's approval of
the work arrangement they want.
Careful Preparation Has Big Pay-offs
But the point to embrace is, careful preparation has big pay-offs! Without
it, don't expect a positive result. You may have heard this alliteration before:
Proper planning prevents poor performance.
Here's another pearl of wisdom from A Woman's Guide to Successful
Negotiating, by Lee E. Miller and Jessica Miller:
The more prepared you are, the more convincing you will be.
Move Quickly, But Not Without Planning
If you're like many WorkOptions visitors, you're at
the edge of a thin margin and want a new flexible
work schedule now for immediate life-balance
relief.
Move quickly if you must, but please heed the advice
to carefully plan and prepare to get the YES that you want.
Note: The two books mentioned above are still in print and available; check your favorite
online bookstore.
Convinced about preparation? Read about my
Proposal Packages, the preferred preparation tool of
choice for professionals who plan to ask for flexible
work.
Take your pick of flexible work proposals:
Telecommuting,
Compressed Workweek,
Part-time or
Job Sharing.
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