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Negotiating flexibility is not easy issues for a number of reasons.  First, most of organizations subscribe to the myth of the ‘ideal worker,’ who has no commitments outside of work, even though we know it no longer holds true for the vast majority.  That means that when anybody negotiates for flexibility, s/he has to deal with that myth always hanging in the background even if it is not formally on the table. Second, any negotiation on flexibility is not a onetime thing as exigencies of the work can cause even the best crafted agreement to erode.  Still, negotiation theory offers some insights that can help in these often highly charged dealings.

• Connect Your Interest to the Business Interest. You have an interest in working a flexible schedule.  Your boss has interests– good, legitimate reasons for denying your request.  She may be legitimately worried that the work will suffer.  She may be worried that this will start a precedent and that others will ask for the same ‘special treatment’ and that everybody’s work will suffer.  In my work, I have shown that if you can connect your interest to what is good for the business, you are more likely to get to yes.  In this situation, can you show how a flexible schedule enables you to serve customers better—can you deal with those in Singapore now where you couldn’t before? Will you have the quiet time to develop the marketing plan to present to the board?  If you can make these connections, then the precedent you model is about benefit to the individual and the business.

• Get The Parties Right. Although it appears that this is a negotiation between you and your boss, actually the ‘high value parties’, are the ones not at the table, those who are most likely affected by your proposed change in schedule.  They may be your peers, your subordinates, and/or your external or internal customers.  They may be the most resistant to change, fearing that they will have to pick up the slack.  It is in negotiations with them, that coming up with creative ways to rethink how the work is done may have the greatest payoff. And it is their support that may carry weight in your dealings with your boss.

• Benchmark Other Practices. If you can point to other successful examples of what you are proposing, it accomplishes several things.  First, it makes you feel more confident in your proposals, and if you are confident you are more likely to stay in the negotiations until you can find some mutual gain.  Second, the availability of credible data, makes it possible for your boss to justify her actions to herself and her superiors.  Currently, many organizations are experimenting with alternative working arrangements, among them major pharmaceutical firms so it should be easy to find examples of these practices and how they have paid off.

• Make the Agreement Contingent. Whatever agreement you reach, it can never be clear how it will work out from either side.  You may find that the schedule is more onerous than you anticipated or that you are missing out on key decisions.  On the work group side, they may find that the new arrangements are putting too much burden on them or that they are working so well that they want to negotiate further changes in how they do the work.  Any agreement should have both time and metrics built in—when will you, your boss, and the relevant stakeholders re-evaluate and what will be the bases of that assessment?

In all of these negotiations about flexibility, it is important to remember that it is a two level game—happening both at work and at home.

Posted on May 17, 2010.