Comment Quid Pro Quo? (Score 0) 848
How about a quid pro quo? Tell your boss you spent X hours developing the solution on your own time. In return for supplying them with a "free" solution, you will get an extra X hours of paid leave, call it vacation time or paid personal time or whatever, to be used at your discretion. This essentially "costs" the company no additional monies, and you are duly compensated for your efforts on par with the time you've invested. You get the benefits of providing an aid to your team by reducing their workload, get the benefit of more vacation time, and the company gets the benefit of a solution without having to fund it in the budget. I'd call that win/win/win.