Research shows that people who work from home show an increase in productivity and have a higher level of job satisfaction.

A new study, “Web Commuting & the American Workforce,” by Citrix Online, shows that more workers do at least part of their jobs from virtually anywhere, at any hour of the day, with technology allowing them to “take their office with them.”

Just a decade ago, these remote workers were called telecommuters; today they are more appropriately called “Web commuters” for their growing reliance on the Internet.

A national survey conducted by the Polling Company, Inc. found that:

• Twenty-three percent of American workers and 41 percent of small-business owners who regularly work from home or another offsite location rely on Web technology such as the Internet, e-mail or programs allowing them to remotely access their office computers.
• Of those surveyed who do not do their jobs off site, 62 percent said they would like to be able to do so.

Kellyanne Conway, CEO and president of the Polling Company, Inc. says that web commuting appears to be a trend-in-the-making.

“The technology is so available, and so reasonably priced, that people of all backgrounds, situations and locations are becoming increasingly mobile,” Conway said. “The evidence is strong that Web commuting represents a future where the workplace will be everywhere and the workforce, anyone. Employers should take heed, if they want to attract and retain talent, because Web commuting is a benefit people value highly.”

The trend toward telecommuting shows no sign of slowing, and it’s a rare worker who hasn’t giving telecommuting some thought.

If you’ve wanted to work remotely, but don’t know how to approach your boss, follow these five steps. There’s no guarantee of a yes, but you will increase the odds of your boss saying yes to your working from home.

1. Know what technology you need to work from home. You need to understand what technology is required for you to work from home.

• The ability to check e-mail from home.
• The ability to access your files from home.
• Call forwarding allowing you to send your desk phone to your cell phone.
• A voice mail system with an external number enabling you to check messages.

2. Position yourself to succeed. Before you talk to your boss about working at home, you must position yourself as the ideal employee. Think about this from your boss’ perspective: Are you the employee who shows up five minutes early every morning and accepts additional responsibility with enthusiasm or are you the employee who shows up five minutes late and balks at the extra responsibilities?

Additional ways to position yourself include:

• Keep your boss updated with status e-mails or brief one-on-one meetings.
• Don’t let your boss see you reading news Web sites or checking your personal e-mail at work, even if it’s perfectly acceptable. If your boss catches you doing this at the office, it’s possible he or she may assume you’ll be doing the same thing at your home office instead of working.
• Do make sure your extra efforts are visible. For example, if you decide to work a few hours from home each night, occasionally e-mail the boss late at night. Seeing your e-mails will help you stand out as someone who goes the extra mile.

3. Make your business reasons for working at home very clear. If you want your proposal given serious consideration, you need to address issues that are of concern to your boss. Issues such as:

• Increasing employee productivity.
• Increasing billable hours.
• Lack of offices and cubicles for new hires.

4. Prepare a written proposal and an oral presentation. Both a presentation and a comprehensive, written proposal are the best approach. The presentation allows your boss to raise questions or objections, which you can then answer on the spot. The written proposal lets your boss consider your ideas more carefully and discuss with upper management, if necessary. And most importantly, you must give careful thought to how you working at home will benefit your boss, not how it will benefit you. Other things to consider include:

• Suggest a trial period of one day per week for five or six weeks.
• Carefully choose the one day you’ll work from home so you’ll avoid being absent for important face-to-face meetings.
• Give your boss a way to pull the plug if things don’t work out.
• Have some statistics to back up your proposal, e.g., examples from other companies, cost savings, etc.
• Don’t push for an immediate answer. Let your boss think on it.

5. Set up a trial period.

Once your boss says yes to your working at home, you’re still not in the clear. You need to be constantly aware of your boss’ and other peoples’ perceptions of your work arrangement. Here are a few tips to help:

• Start your day early.
• Get an early jump on answering e-mails. If your boss and co-workers get to work and find you’ve already been working, they can’t say you aren’t pulling your weight.
• Regularly communicate with your boss. Make sure you’re aware of what your boss thinks of the arrangement and offer to tweak what isn’t working to make things go smoother.
• Build in accountability. Your boss may be concerned you won’t be productive if he or she is not there to watch over you. Suggest ways for your boss to keep informed of your progress.
• Control background noise. If a co-worker or client calls and they hear a television, children or even dogs barking, you’ll lose credibility.
• Make sure your boss knows you’re reachable – and flexible.
• Provide your boss with your phone, fax, pager, cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Don’t let your phone calls go to voice mail – your boss and co-workers need to feel like they can reach your just as easily as if you were in the office. And assure your boss you can come into the office on short notice if you’re urgently needed.