I'm being a coward and I'm mad at myself.

sweetsunnyc

The director of my department approved me to work a half day on Wednesday, which would make life great for our family in terms of childcare, school pick up ect. I also need to get approval from the president of the campus that I am located on, but I have been too afraid to approach him about it. I have heard that once my director approves something, it is pretty much golden, but I just have this feeling that he is going to deny the request. He is very intimidating to me and I feel like he frowns on flexibility, so I don't even know how to bring it up. Meanwhile, I just get more angry at myself everyday that I don't mention it. I don't even know how to start the conversation. Should I just start with the fact that my director already approved it?  Any suggestions on approaching someone when you're intimidated? And managers, how do you handle the conversation when an employee comes to you asking for schedule accommodations?

The request was approved by my director last Friday, so I have had time to have a conversation with him about this. I'm just mad at myself for being afraid of this.

radiohd18

jtizzay said:

Sometimes the anxiety is worse than the event. As a manager I always want to know that someone has thought of the issues etc. So IMO the best thing is to say a) here is where I am in my workload b) here is how I get everything done and how "ahead" I am (tailor to your job) and then c) I asked xx and they approved a half day Wednesday. I hope I have your support as well.

I agree with all of this!

Just do it-- get it over with. And, when you talk to him remember that you need to show that not only do you want this half day Wednesday and have pre-approval for it, you deserve it. Do not easily concede if he acts like he doesn't want to give it to you.

Good luck!

litzo27

@jtizzay - said it very well. Approach him in person with discuss the three things she outlined above. Have it printed out if it makes you feel more comfortable to have a bulletpoint list in your hands. Don't be apologetic focus on how you're going to make this work.

And don't be mad at yourself! Everyone has something that makes us uncomfortable.

itsmevkb

jtizzay said:

Sometimes the anxiety is worse than the event. As a manager I always want to know that someone has thought of the issues etc. So IMO the best thing is to say a) here is where I am in my workload b) here is how I get everything done and how "ahead" I am (tailor to your job) and then c) I asked xx and they approved a half day Wednesday. I hope I have your support as well.

I was going to say this as well.  If an employee comes to me asking for something "special" then I want to know that they have already figured out all the logistics of how to make it happen without affecting everyone else.  If there is an easy way to work in some of your achievements, or how consistently good your work is, I might add that as well.

Good luck and just bite the bullet.  Send an email asking when would be a good time to get together to talk.

sweetsunnyc

Ladies- Thank you. Great advice as always. Fridays are typically a slow day here, so I am going to speak with him tomorrow. He recently sent out an email regarding schedules for the campus and stated that we should speak with him if we need to make changes. I feel like now is a good time to do it.

Thanks again.

MommyAtty

@mrsdelcastillo‌ -Let us know how it goes! We are rooting for you!

sweetsunnyc

I was approved for my half day on Wednesday! Thank you everyone for the encouragement! This will put me at 35 hours and allow us to save on a full day of day care and after school care on Wednesdays. My husband is a professor and works 1pm- 10 pm some days, so it's a hard schedule to work around. This is going to make life easier

litzo27

Yay! The anticipation is often scarier than the reality