10 Tips for Managing Expectations Before Going on Parental Leave

Before going on maternity or extended parental leave, it’s important to establish realistic expectations with your clients (if you deal directly with them), your manager, and your team. This is particularly important if you plan on returning to the same role when you come back to work.

Consider how you would like to ‘stay connected’ whilst you are on parental leave. Communicate your intentions both verbally and in a written format (for example, via email) to all relevant parties to ensure they are informed.

10 Tips for Managing Client and Team Expectations

The following tips will ensure your transition to parental leave is as smooth as possible.

1. Determine what work will be performed differently or undertaken by others during your pregnancy or leave, and discuss this with your manager.
2. Decide when you will commence your parental leave and how much leave you would like to take.
3. Communicate any changes to your normal role and/or responsibilities to your colleagues, clients and any direct reports. 
4. Work with your manager to ascertain if your position will need to be performed by another person(s) during your parental leave and plan to allow for a sufficient hand-over period.
5. Document the key aspects of your role, including processes, contacts, relationship management details and histories. Ensure this documentation is easily accessible for relevant colleagues in your absence.
6. Prepare for and conduct a thorough hand-over session with the relevant people handling your workload during your parental leave. 
7. Provide your ‘on leave’ contact details (if appropriate) and indicate how frequently you will be checking emails and voicemail.
8. Contact your key clients prior to going on leave to explain when you plan to go on leave. Assure them of the plans that are in place to ensure continued delivery of service. Provide them with new contact details.
9. If someone is looking after your role while you are on leave, consider having them as your key contact. 
10. Update your ‘Out of Office’ message (or similar) with the agreed contact details and timeframe of your absence.

You could add to this list any company / job role / team specific tasks you also need to complete.

Working from home – the pros and cons

Working from home is becoming ever more popular and far easier to do for a range of workers.

Thanks to rapidly growing advances in high speed internet availability, wireless technology, easy teleconferencing software like Go to Webinar, Skype for Business and Microsoft Lync, and the falling cost of office hardware such as personal computers, printers and phones, many people can now make a business case for working from home.

They can show their employer that the organisation will not be financially disadvantaged by having them work from home.

In fact, an employer might make a cost saving, by spending less on things like heating, cooling, lighting, phones, printing, office space and travel-related expenses.

Working from home is an arrangement that suits many working carers. By giving them more autonomy about how they work their core hours, it enables them to effectively juggle their work and caring duties. This in turn may reduce their stress and potentially give them back several ‘lost’ hours each day – time that is usually wasted in getting ready for work, and travelling to and from work, whether on public transport or by personal car.

It also means that they may have the flexibility to do some work in the evening, when their caring duties are less, as their loved one has been settled for the night. That also buys back those precious hours and more evenly spreads their workload over a longer time period each day, but with less intensity.

All of these factors may add up to a considerable cost saving for the employee, as their public transport costs, or petrol costs and car running costs, will be reduced. Other savings can be made by there being less pressure to buy new work clothes, the ability to make low cost and more nutritious meals at home, the ability to have the time to shop smart and take advantage of specials, and having more at-home daylight hours in which to do domestic chores instead of having to pay for extra help.

Working from home may also benefit the health and wellbeing of both the person being cared for, and the worker themselves.

For example there can be more control and timely intervention when medical needs arise – medications can be given correctly and on time; dressings can be changed regularly; visits to the doctor can be more easily arranged; accidents can be avoided as there is better supervision; mental health might be improved as there is less stress generated by not having strangers coming into the house to help with care duties.

The carer, too, may potentially enjoy better health as they may have far less stress, be able to get out into the fresh air and sunshine more frequently, and feel happier and calmer as they have more control over their life.

That is not to say working from home benefits every working carer. Each situation is unique and needs to be assessed on its individual merits and the personality and needs of all involved.

Some working carers thrive on getting away from the house and having a separate life outside their caring role – they feel it is a break away from their caring duties. For them, working from home might be their worst nightmare.

On the ‘con’ side of working from home, working carers may feel that their time is never their own; that they can’t get any separation between their work and home life; that the caring becomes a relentless burden; or that they lose their social support and connection with colleagues. They may also feel that their employer does not see them as committed to their role and that they may be overlooked for special projects and promotions.

Taking genuine sick days may feel awkward, too, as the perception may be that they are already ‘at home’ so they should be able to continue to work. All of these may be very valid reasons for not working from home.

There is no right or wrong answer. A working carer who is considering working from home should consider a three-month trial to see if working from home is practical and delivers the benefits they are expecting.

Even a mix of working say two days at home and three in the office might be a good start for both the employee and the employer, to smooth out any issues in the transition and to still have the flexibility to go back to office-based work if the need arises.

Source: Working Carers Gateway

The truth about when your kids need you the most

I have a confession. I never loved staying at home when my children were young. Sleepless nights were followed by the drudge of never ending laundry, steaming and mashing food, breast feeding (painful, it never got easier) interspersed with the occasional joy of giggles and cuddles. Every day seemed to me like ground hog day and there was no appreciation by them for all the hard slog that was done. To the contrary, it all had to be done over and over again.

I realised this pretty early on and once regular sleep ensued I went back to work, albeit part time. The relief of stepping out the door leaving baby responsibilities to someone else so I could attend to adult work was palpable. I cared not a whit that my entire salary was devoted to paying for someone to care for my child. I looked upon it as a fair exchange: I was paying someone to complete tasks I loathed leaving me the opportunity to complete tasks that I enjoyed. My husband supported my decision. I was happier and more fulfilled combining work and motherhood.

This fair exchange continued for a number of years. I had three children, took a few months maternity leave for each and then continued to work part-time firstly as a political adviser and then as a lawyer. I found a niche area in law in which to practice and worked for a firm that was flexible and fair. The children went to crèche for a few days, and then school and I arranged for some home help too.

And then things changed. The balance shifted and the demands of the children became greater. Sound counter-intuitive? Not really when you think about it. As they grew older the children were no longer satisfied with a nanny or their grandmother picking them up from school and spending the rest of the afternoon with them. They wanted a parent to decompress with and not at a time convenient to me. If something important happened at school they wanted to discuss it immediately.

They wanted a parent who was switched on to their needs instantly. I was coming home tired, wanting a hot shower, some dinner, a quick chat with them and then some me time. Long, involved discussions about friendship groups, kids behaving badly and how to handle it or helping with homework were not tasks or conversations I wanted delve into at the end of a day in court or a protracted negotiation. By the time I had recovered (probably on the weekend) and was prepared to assist with an English essay or ready for a conversation about annoying peers, the opportunity had passed, the work was already done and the discussion had moved on.

My children were turning into young adults with complex emotions and I was missing out. The juggle of work and home responsibilities was not one I was comfortable with any longer. So after considerable reflection I quit. I didn't know what I was going to do next in my working capacity but a stressful career in the law (even a part time one) was no longer fitting the bill.

I spoke to many people about what to do next. I was unemployed for two weeks. And they were two weeks filled with relief of leaving behind my stressful job combined with uncertainty veering on panic as to what I would do next. My identity was wrapped up in my working life and not knowing what lay ahead was challenging and disconcerting.

In the end I fell into my subsequent job. A chance interaction with a woman I vaguely knew at gym led me to taking over her job as a program manager at one of my children's schools. I'm not practicing as a lawyer any longer so I'm remunerated at about 25% of what I was used to being paid. I work a similar number of hours but it's generally stress free. I got rid of the home help and now pick up my children from school each day. They now battle each other who can get in first with the details of their day. And I'm switched on, ready to embrace the intricacies of friendships and research projects.

Am I as challenged in my day job? Mostly not. Have I taken a considerable pay cut? Definitely. Am I more content with the balance? Without doubt. I've learnt priorities change as circumstances change. And once my children finish school, no doubt my priorities will change once more. I've retained my practicing certificate although a return to the law seems daunting and not particularly inviting. I also offer my time to organisations whose work I find meaningful. But it's the space I've found for my children that offers me the most meaning of all.

By: Liora Miller

Source: Women's Agenda

7 things you need to know about returning to work after children

Jumping back into work can be a daunting prospect when you've had a substantial break, but there is little to fear.

There is absolutely no reason why you can't have a fulfilling career and a family. Things just might take a little more tweaking than before.

With a little bit of preparation and a few tips, you'll be free to drink a cup of tea or coffee whilst it's still hot in no time.

Here's a few ideas to help you make the leap:

Two careers, a family and a marriage: How to make it all work

Imagine it is Christmas or Easter or some family event which has entailed a fair amount of preparation. You have various family members staying so you have made beds and tidied the house accordingly. There were groceries to be bought and meals planned to feed a small tribe for a few days. Presents were arranged for the various children. Tables have been set. Schedules were managed to meet the interests of as many family members as possible. You have done all that leg work single-handedly and it is now time to start cooking for the main event.

Now imagine your husband walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. Thank god, you think to yourself. He’s getting the turkey out to start basting. Except he’s not. He grabs a beer and says he’s about to watch the football.

That exact scene played out in US journalist Brigid Schulte’s home on Thanksgiving a few years ago.

New Harvard research: Children benefit from having a working mum

Here’s some heartening news for working mothers worried about the future of their children.

Women whose mothers worked outside the home are more likely to have jobs themselves, are more likely to hold supervisory responsibility at those jobs, and earn higher wages than women whose mothers stayed home full time, according to a new study. Men raised by working mothers are more likely to contribute to household chores and spend more time caring for family members.

The findings are stark, and they hold true across 24 countries.

Part-time power: Can you be part-time at the top?

It's a familiar stereotype. The part-time worker (usually a woman) who has compromised on career and salary to bring up children.

Not for her the world of her full-time counterpart (usually a man) in a high-powered job, with not enough hours in the day, let alone days in the week, to respond to the e-mails, phone calls and meeting requests coming at him from all corners of the globe.

But a decade and a half into the 21st Century there are signs of a work pattern emerging that fits neither stereotype. And it isn't only for the benefit of frustrated working mothers.

It's being forged by men and women who, for whatever reason - whether it's children, elderly parents, or the pursuit of that elusive thing called work-life balance, don't want to work full-time, but are determined to do more than just "keep their hand in".

"I still feel ambitious. I want to have influence. There's an assumption that when you ask for part-time work, all those other things that made you professionally have gone out of the window, and that's just not true," says Karen Mattison, the co-founder of Timewise, which promotes flexible working.

"You're the same person inside, that's why the stigma around part-time work matters, it's the lens you might be looked at through."