Decide Which Work Option is Best for You If you've already decided which work option you would like to arrange at your job, you may skip this planning step. Otherwise, you will find it helpful to match your needs and objectives with the best work option to meet them. List your general needs and objectives for obtaining job flexibility. Some common ones are given below and you might add others. Then, match the various work options with your objectives. Different work options may meet varying objectives, requiring you to prioritize. Some Common Objectives for Obtaining Job Flexibility Cut commuting time and costs Have full days off for (spending time with baby; errands; at-home business; etc.) Preserve 80 - 100% of income within the flexible arrangement Preserve professional visibility on the job (a career preservation or advancement objective) Less rushing in the morning Physical energy at the end of the workday to enjoy time with the family My Objectives: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ Example of the "Decide Which Work Option is Best for You" Exercise Madelyn is a graphic design and production supervisor in a large advertising firm seven miles from her home. She oversees six people in her department. She has a four-year-old daughter in preschool and an infant son who is six months old. She returned to work full time after an eight-week maternity leave. She finds that once again, as with her first child, she is missing the "magic moments" in her baby's first year of life. Madelyn is a productive employee who has worked at the firm for five years. She decides to propose a flexible work arrangement to the department manager. She first lists her objectives, then marks (*) those she considers her highest priorities: Cut commuting time and costs Be around baby Joel daily for at least a few hours at a time* Reduce child care expenses Less rushing in the morning and at the dinner hour Spend time with both baby Joel and daughter Amy in the afternoons* Considering her most important objectives and the definition of each work option, Madelyn decides a part-time work option in the form of a shortened workday is her best option. This would have her going into the office each morning to set priorities and assignments for her staff, then working on projects. But she also figured she might be able to do some of the computer graphics supervision and production coordination at home, using her computer, fax and modem. Balancing her key objectives and the needs of the job, she ended up successfully proposing the following schedule: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., five days a week, with one of those days working at home. She arranged for in-home child care during those hours for her infant. She picks up her four-year-old daughter on the way home from the office and spends a couple hours a day in the afternoon with her two children before her husband comes home. Morning departure and dinner hour preparation are still a bit hectic, but with fewer hours at the office, and a little help from her husband, Madelyn is no longer chronically fatigued and finds the day more manageable. On her telecommuting day, both children are watched in her home by a paid caregiver. Madelyn breaks for lunch with them, is able to nurse her son and is available to witness his first-year "milestones." She is available to her staff by telephone if they need her for emergencies or timely decisions. Otherwise, she has groomed a senior staff member to be her "back-up" as necessary. Madelyn plans to maintain this schedule until her son is in preschool, then reevaluate her options at that time. Also see: • Discover your personal reasons for pursuing a flexible work arrangement • Working out a telecommuting proposal Excerpted with permission from the e-workbook, Flex Success: A Proposal Blueprint & Planning Guide for Getting a Family-Friendly Work Schedule by Pat Katepoo, founder of WorkOptions.com.