What to ask for
What to ask for instead
Requests that can actually be granted, phrased so that asking does not read as asking to come in less.
Days this part is about, hour by hour
Wednesday, the second week
3 of 7Planning day
Wednesday, the fourth week
3 of 7The new starter's first day
Thursday, the fifth week
1 of 7three days · 21 hours logged · seven of them were only possible there · one was made worse by being there
The three days worth asking for more of.
Do not argue about the count
The number of days is the one thing a manager usually cannot change and the one thing most likely to make the conversation adversarial. Three better subjects.
Name the day, not the number
How to propose an anchor day to a team that has never had one, including the four objections it will meet and what each one is really about.
The sentence that gets agreed
Why the same request succeeds or fails on its wording, the three forms that work, and the two that reliably do not.
Asking without it sounding like a retreat
Every request about office days is heard through one filter. Why that happens, and the specific move that gets past it.
What a manager can actually grant
Five things usually within a line manager's own authority and four that are not.
What to bring to the conversation
Three numbers, one sentence and nothing else. What to leave at home, and why a short piece of evidence beats a thorough one.
Four sentences for whoever sets the week
Written for the person who decides how a team's week runs. Four sentences, about ninety seconds, and they supply most of what a hybrid policy is reaching for.
The fortnight that would settle it
Ten days, one letter an hour, two timestamps a day — and the four numbers you will have at the end of it.