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A little bit of background to this question:

I work for a company, which some time ago (more or less 1 year) introduced home-office as a "benefit" for those, who cannot (for whatever reason) be at the office.
Until now I never asked for it, but 2 weeks ago the thought to do it crossed my mind. I sent an email to one of the heads of my company's branch where I work, and I waited for some time (I feel that the email got ignored). Meanwhile I had to write to him for other work-related matters, and those emails were quickly answered.

Why I asked to work from home:

  • My office is an open space with 14 people, who make a lot of noise.
  • Since summer began, and since we have no a/c or fan, in the office there are always at least 28°C. Heat makes me sleepy.
  • For the last 2 days, I worked with the constant presence of mosquitos.
  • I have a very important deadline by the end of July and I need to concentrate on writing a document. I always get interrupted every 10 minutes for matters that are not that important (by my place we have a phone for 3 peoples - sometimes I answer just to give the call to another colleague, who is far away from the phone).
  • I have only asked Home-Office until the end of July, only a couple of days a week, and only to finish this job.
  • I have a work-notebook and a VPN access.

I do have the intention of going to this person and ask him personally, but I don't want to appear to be the colleague who "complains instead of doing his work". If it can be of any help, I am 32 and the bosses' average age is 50 (I also have a feeling that they think I'm too young to deserve Home-Office / to be trusted to have it - and to be clear, I never gave them the chance to think about me as an untrustworthy person).

How do I deal with the situation? How can I present my request in a way that there is the least probability to be ignored again?

EDIT: Some people may think I'd get mad if I don't have what I want. Absolutely not. I will accept a 'no' too. The company will have to deal with the consequences of me being overloaded and unhappy (that is not a threat, but only a cause-effect). Not completing the job on-time is not an option.

EDIT: Thanks to all. I did ask again in person, and even if I still think I got ignored in the first place, my boss looked "forced" to give me a chance. Eventually I had to sign a module which was approved in one day.

Noldor130884
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  • Could it be that the process of actually getting a home office is slow and bureaucratic, but is actually in progress? – morsor Jul 06 '16 at 06:15
  • No, the request must be forwarded to the personnell office. I never received such a feedback. – Noldor130884 Jul 06 '16 at 06:16
  • Perhaps, things have already moved into Summer vacation mode, where many simple things grind to a halt due to different people being away – morsor Jul 06 '16 at 06:18
  • I don't think so either. Trust me, when people go into that mode, I have always trouble receiving answers for other stuff too... This is not happening at the moment – Noldor130884 Jul 06 '16 at 06:21
  • How long have you waited after submitting your request? You mention the fact that you've gotten answers to other issues since then, but this particular request may take longer. – Brandin Jul 06 '16 at 06:56
  • A week from now. Well, yes, but is it a "radio-silence" normal? I mean, an email with "Ok will work on your request" lasts 5 seconds to write. – Noldor130884 Jul 06 '16 at 07:36
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    No A/C, 28 degrees, mosquitos, open space? This seems the office from hell. I would request at least a machine to kill the mosquitos for starters...no malaria concerns? – Rui F Ribeiro Jul 07 '16 at 06:34
  • No A/C, 28 degrees, mosquitos, open space? Are you sure that your company is not violating more than 100 labor regulations? Man, that is a serious health issue. As a side comment, I bought my personal mosquito killing-machine and it's got tremendous success: an electric racket – usr-local-ΕΨΗΕΛΩΝ Jul 07 '16 at 07:00
  • Thank God we live in a country where malaria is not an issue... And in this country, if you work in the heat, there are some regulations that force the employer to put curtains (we have those), fans (we have 2 mobile fans for 14 people) and eventually buy you water (they can live with the fact that our tap water is drinkable and the distance from my seat to the toilet is 20m). It is still a hell, I agree, but the problem is that they're not violating any law apparently. – Noldor130884 Jul 07 '16 at 08:06
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    Possible duplicate of Convincing my manager to let me work from home – IDrinkandIKnowThings Jul 12 '16 at 19:56
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    This is absolutely not about convincing anyone – Noldor130884 Jul 13 '16 at 05:58

1 Answers1

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How do I deal with the situation? How can I present my request in a way that there is the least probability to be ignored again?

I think you are overthinking the situation. People on top of the hierarchy tend to mark the emails which they think are not urgent tend to mark them as read-later. So, there is a high probability that they forgot checking it back, or maybe the approval process is very slow.

So, remind them personally about your email and talk to them about your problem, and why you think you can be more productive at a home-office, and thereby the move being an advantage for you and also for the team/company.

Dawny33
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  • So, basically you think that going there and "peacefully" presenting my issues (stated in the email already) should make the trick? – Noldor130884 Jul 06 '16 at 06:17
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    @Noldor130884 Yes. Also, do mention/explain how working from home would improve your productivity. – Dawny33 Jul 06 '16 at 06:18
  • Sorry for the question that may sound stupid, but what if I didn't overthink ? How should I behave if it was ignored on purpose? – Noldor130884 Jul 06 '16 at 06:24
  • @Noldor130884 Even then, you don't have a proof that it's ignored. So, ask for an appointment casually, and put your case forward. – Dawny33 Jul 06 '16 at 06:26
  • @Noldor130884 If it is not approved, they will just tell you. There isn't anything rude or odd about getting feedback. A lot of times talking in person is much easier because there is a conversation, and rapid series of exchanges can happen, where as if he replied with a single sentence e-mail, and repeats it multiple times, it becomes hard to read and he also may lose track. – Nelson Jul 08 '16 at 08:07