8 simple rules for negotiating flex work

5. Don't go to HR
When trying to figure out how your company will respond to your request for flex work, don't ask human resources for their opinion. "It's not safe," Shapiro says. If you do anything to make your company nervous, you're out the door; companies are too worried about lawsuits and the bottom line these days. Instead, talk to coworkers with flex-work options to see how they did it. Or get the advice of an industry organization like WashTech or Media Alliance, or your neighbour the HR rep (at another company, of course).

6. Make your case in writing
In your proposal, ask not what your company can do for you, but what you can do for your company: Offer to work flexibly for a trial period -- perhaps telecommuting one or two days a week to start (but not Mondays, which are often busiest). Point out how your flex job will let you get more work done in less time, save the company cash, and any other (actual) benefits you can think of.

7. Choose your timing wisely
The best time to ask for a job makeover is when everything's calm, especially if you've just saved the day or somehow made your boss look fabulous. You don't want to request to go flex during a time of total chaos, like during a big product launch or when the company's fighting for its life -- unless there's something irresistible in it for the company.

8. Go the extra mile
If you do go the part-time, flextime or telecommuting route, regularly update your colleagues on your progress and stay on top of deadlines. (Even better, overdeliver the goods.) Keep in close contact with the mother ship at all times when working off-site. It's your job to assure your manager that everything's running swimmingly and you're not off in the Cayman Islands, sipping Mai Tais instead of working on the Big Presentation.

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Excerpted from The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube by Michelle Goodman. Copyright 2007 by Michelle Goodman. Excerpted by permission of Seal Press, an Imprint of Avalon Publishing Group, Inc., distributed by Publishers Group Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.