It all starts ...

[sinje]

Hi all,

I'm new here and have now read 4HWW twice. I've gone through a lot in life recently (too much to detail) and ready to embrace the 4HWW Creed!

I'm a senior manager of the company (I'm 32 and been there for 9 years) and it's a very stable and financially strong position I'm in. Problem is - the hours I put in have been sucking my life away!! I'm sure this isn't news to you!

I've organised with the boss to work remotely but he's very restrictive on where (Australia/Singapore/New Zealand) as he'll get funding putting me there. Again though, there are provisos to this ... have to be in an office and have to commit to 1 yr. Also, I'm restricted in movements (can't return to Aus more than 3 times a year - again for funding) and he requires that I record my time (hours spent) in an online time tracking system. *sigh*

I was excited at first but after thinking through these cons I'm not sure that I'm really gaining anything. I've organised to discuss further with him and to put my list of demands on the table.

I need negotiation help! I'm not afraid to put down what I want .. but I'm not really sure what that is :P
I want to be able to travel around at whim and work fully remotely and shift to an true, 40 hrs of output not input structure (without giving too much away).

Anyone been in a similar situation or got any thoughts/advice/comments?

[JKohlbach]

I am in a similar situation, except it's probably slightly more strict. The only thing I can say is that to get 8hrs worth of work output in the day, I certainly don't put in that many hours. Any time I work from home I have a good excuse (workmen coming over, need to visit doctors/specialists) even if it's not entirely accurate. I then split the time I have over the day 50/50, so I still show some productive output (which is usually more than I do at the office anyway) and that way I still get my personal items done. As long as my output justifies the time away from the office, I don't feel bad putting down 8 hrs of work on my timesheets even if it only took me 2 or 3 hours to accomplish what i did.

I would suggest that before you talk to your boss, have a clear plan. Make your offer attractive to him. Really sit down and analyse your life, trim out the fat so to speak and approach it again before you make any rash decisions. Have you done your dreamline? Or did you skip over it like I did the first two times I read the book?

Bide your time and approach with a cool head. Really know what you want to get out of the negotiation.

[camdengirl]

I'm thinking that as long as the work gets done, what's his problem?

So instead of "I will work 8 hours between 9-5" could you put on the table that all work will be returned within 24 hour period / I will check and respond to emails at least three times a day / I will make sure that each month the XYZ report is delivered by 1st of the month.

It sounds like he's freaking out you're going on an extended holiday and he'll be left clearing up the mess. Whatever you can put in place to convince him that the quality of your work will be even better when abroad - do it!

[sinje]

Thanks JKohlbach and camdengirl!! Both comments were insightful and helpful!

You were right JKohlbach, I hadn't really done my Dreamline properly (only vague ideas) so downloaded the excel sheet.

After doing that fully, it was much easier and I've put together an email to my boss with my "suggestions" and used a lot of the wording from the book too (which helped a lot). I had already been eliminating the dross from my life and work (delegating 'properly' - without micromanaging, proposing and batching) and was able to track my productivity increase when out of the office so I was able to put that forward (thanks camdengirl).

I've never been that good at hard negotiating so I've been practicing a bit and also stare-outs too. Anyway, I'll let you all know the response and pending discussion ... *insert ominous music*

:D

[JKohlbach]

Thanks, sinje.. i'd be very interested to hear your progress...

[Sven]

From reading this quickly, it seems that your boss knew exactly what room he had to play with and you did not realy know what you wanted.

Is that the case?

[nghs22]

really focus on the 80/20 of your job. Outsource tasks that can be outsourced (whether personal or for business) and you will be very surprised how much more time you will have. Now figure a way around the boss per tim's book

[sinje]

Well - I wouldn't have believed it but I have negotiated my way out of the office!! Thank you all for your advice!!

I had a discussion with the boss today over an email that i sent him with the details of what I wanted and it went better than I had imagined. I have now negotiated to work the normal ~40 hours per week but at flexible times (not restricted to 9-5) and to be able to work remotely. This sets up my ability to further (A)utomate my working habits and start enjoying life whilst having the security of the income I've worked myself into over the past 9.5 yrs!!

I'm so excited and it's still feeling a little unreal that it's actually going to happen - in fact, I keep thinking that I've forgotten something. :confused:

Anyway, I currently have a proviso that I need to come back to the office once a month - just doing the sums on this could equate to it being quite expensive so I'm going to push back so that if abroad I can stretch it out to 2 months without returning. I'm after bang-for-my-buck! ;)

Wanted you guys and gals to know my progress and please let me know if there is anything that stands out as alarming or something that might have slipped by that could hurt me later.

I'm basically tied down to the office for a few more weeks but then can move anywhere i want. I'm debating whether to just work from my current home for a little while to focus on setting up more but I don't think I can hold the travel bug down for long :D

[JKohlbach]

That's fantastic.. and a prime example of exactly why you should never give up trying to get what you want! Congrats on the move..

I'd probably go into the office for that 1 day the first two or so months, maybe 3 and eeeease into the whole international situation. Maybe experiment by tripping around Australia for 2 or 3 out of every 4 weeks?