How do I sell work / life balance to managers with an old school mentality?

Question

I’ve been selected on my job to sell the concept of work / life balance to a bunch of managers who are from the old school and think everyone needs to be in the office from 9 to 5 Monday – Friday. Even though we have employees in the office during these times, it does not equate to productivity. However based on the research I’ve done, many people are more productive when given the opportunity to work in alternate locations (telework) and schedules (compressed work week, flex-schedule). Could you help me with some suggestions on how to best sell the work / life balance concept? I want them to walk away from my presentation thinking they have no choice but to adopt this program as part of our policy. Thanks for your help!!

Answer 1

These programs/sales pitches almost always work better with the managers coming up with the solutions

The pitch is to SHOW them the statistics (power-point AND paper hand-outs, since they are old-school).

Then, ask them how this could be implemented in their workplace with a minimum of disruption.

THEIR solutions will be YOUR solutions, and YOUR solutions will be invested in by the managers.

Remember, though, you are not asking for problems or disadvantages to the plan, but HOW to increase productivity in their department.