How to ask to switch offices?
How have yall gone about this? I want to move back to my home city in a few months, which we have a satellite office in (not exactly sure how many people actually work there though). The cities are only a few hours apart, if that matters as well. I've been with this company and in my role for 7 months, fresh out of college. I'm going to wait for another 3-5 months before asking my boss or bringing it up. Is 10-12 months in a role enough time to give your boss confidence you can do your job away from your managers? I don't have much of a relationship with my boss b/c I've been WFH for months now and we don't ever really have to be in contact anyway, but I'm sure my managers could back me up as I've still been learning and doing pretty well imo since WFH. Also, our WFH policies will be changing soon so maybe that will help increase my odds of this being cool (my managers will probably start WFH often).
Just not sure the proper way to bring this up as I feel like it could set off a red flag for whatever reason.
So this is a very unique time for all of this..... so take these points with some grains of salt...
If your position is really location irrelevant, i.e. WFH or any office, then this is a much easier ask. If it is common to meet/huddle with the team, then I wouldn't be so quick to assume all will change. But this is uncharted territory for all of us.
Does the move help/benefit your team or firm in anyway? If the city you want to move is one targeted for growth or otherwise harder to attract talent in, they may actually love that you want to transfer. Again this will make it easier, you should really figure this out first before any discussions, as it could frame the ask. Leads to next point....
Can the move be viewed positively in any substantive way. There is the above point of helping the team/firm, but there can also be benefits by 'freeing up your seat' at current office (maybe more important in short term social distanced world), or even by simply keeping a happy employee (yes, firms do care, and if it helps you stay long term, it's not an irrelevant factor... this assumes they want to keep you).
Will this impact your career the trajectory. This may or may not help your case in getting approved, but you need to think about it. Will this help or hurt your career path? This is important on whether you should do it or not, or at what cost/benefit it may provide. All else equal, it may help a manager understand why its good.
Can you tele-commute/drive-commute/split-time. There is possibility (enhanced in this WFH) where you 'live' in one city, but 'work' in another. Essentially, you agree (at your cost) to come in as needed to your main office. It helps to have the regional office, and maybe you get a desk there as needed, but you won't be assigned to that office per se. Since you said its only a few hours apart, this seems maybe feasible. Again, this is really based on a WFH style arrangement. Which leads to a different strategy...
If asked or told to WFH on semi-permanent basis.... use as leverage to say 'okay, but I want to live here! and office out of here'... this is kinda like the above option, but now they will sort of be on the hook for travel between cities and other costs. If they really 'change' your work arrangement, this request will seem far more reasonable, and likely to be approved. This also applies if they seek 'volunteers' to WFH.
In short, if you can approach your firm from the 'why this is mutually beneficial' you will be in much better position. To that end, try and network/meet/talk to people in that office. It will give you great intel and maybe help your case. Just be careful about being too obvious and inadvertently trigger some internal politics or other battle. This may be more important than you realize, the head of that office may have some impact if you are even given a 'seat' there as some costs may hit their budget even if you are not on that team (HR can be crazy in this regard).
good luck!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. You really give great input on this forum and I appreciate it.
I should give more info on this "satellite" office. It seems like not many people work there at all. Just an originator or two, and one or two others. I don't think they are planning to expand that office at all. I've actually been in it once and it seemed kind of like a ghost town. So I don't think I have that going for me at all, and it wouldn't help my team but I don't think it would hurt my team either. The only thing I think I have going for me is the WFH aspect. I'm not sure what the policy will be but it seems like it's leaning in the direction of in the office 50% or less, or even come in as we please. As for tele-commuting, I could see that as a possibility. Maybe come into the office every other week for a day or two. Really, the only reason to come to the office at this point is "team" aspect and going out to happy hour or lunch here and there, other than that I think the covid WFH.has proven my team does not need to be in the office together. In fact I know a few of my managers that want to WFH full-time or at least the majority of the time. The 6th option seems like it would be the best case scenario.
Thank you so much again.
I'm glad you found it valuable! I'm sure many are thinking what you are thinking. With the benefit of your extra detail..
It sounds like trying to 'transfer' is a non-starter, so WFH or tele-commute or whatever is probably the way to go. If you can stomach the expense, inconvenience, and pain of commuting, you could probably make this work without really needed 'permission' per se (esp. if 50% WFH becomes a thing). Still, better to get buy in from the boss or you will find yourself getting up at 3am to drive in for surprise meetings way more than you want to.
I am in the NYC area (suburb home but office in midtown NYC, when allowed to go there...). I am personally debating if I'd rather live in smaller city, like in Texas/Florida or some other 'zero-tax' state. My role had me traveling tons and my team is spread out all over the country (my boss is actually on the west coast!) and WFH was pretty much at my option before all this.
So, if coming to the NYC office is even less valuable, I start to debate it. What makes me personally hesitant is losing the value of the network and hub effect of NYC. The people I can have coffee/lunch/drinks with or bump into at a conference is off the charts in NYC compared to practically anywhere else. I'm guess that world will come back in a year or less. So, if I move 'south' like so many NYers do, will I stunt my own career development? Or, can I 'tele-commute' and maintain the NYC network. In reality, there are costs from leaving the home office or a major city (I'm guessing the other city you want to move to is smaller, but I might be wrong); this is something I personally struggle with. NYC area living sucks in many ways (taxes, commute times, etc.), but it is NYC for a reason. Do not underestimate this. I am seemingly much farther along in my career than your profile suggests you are, and I am not sure it's wise to leave the energy of the home office/major city; for you, it may be massively beneficial in the long-term (even if not ideal on personal levels).