Let's Talk About Flexibility

Let's talk about flexibility.

Communicating how we thrive, and being on the same page here as employers, hiring managers, bosses, colleagues and employees is how we can be at our best together.

We're each responsible for knowing how we do our best work. Communicating this can be tricky though:
- fear of how it'll be received
- vulnerability, professional boundaries blur here
- not liking the answer you assume will come 

Here are some conversation starters:

Are there any projects that you’d like to be reassigned or reprioritized until schools reopen?

What projects are most important to focus on right now?

Are there any meetings that you feel are at particularly difficult times in your day?

Can I work a morning shift and a late night shift to help split childcare during the day with my partner?

Can I reduce to 60% time during this crisis?

Obviously things are remote now, but when we go back what will the flexibility be around working from home a day or two each week?

A) Speaking our truth (shout out to Jim and Pam who mastered this!!)
If you know how you work best and aren't actively sharing this information with your manager/team - you're holding everyone back from their fullest potential! Sharing this information might seem like a risk, but if the status quo is that you're doing mediocre work - it seems worth it, right?
Ex: My partner and I are both WFH right now, and if I could break my day into two shifts, 1 in the morning and one after my kids go to sleep, I'd be able to be more present for my family and focused in my work.
B) Proactively asking hard questions
Constantly asking difficult questions about flexibility helps employees to be open and honest about what could help them to thrive, and shows understanding that flexibility is fluid and needs shift and change. Ex: Would it help if I reassigned that project to a team with extra capacity? At what point if any) would it be important for you to be brought back into it?

Tapping into empathy can be helpful here - Would you want someone to share what they needed with you? How would you feel if this was proactively discussed in your interview process? Would you recommend that your friend speak up to their boss about this? 

Wishing you great conversations with your teams as you align and get onto the same page so you can achieve greatness together!