When you find out that a new arrival is on the way, there is little to match that feeling of ecstasy or exuberance that your whole family will share with you. You will be beside yourself with joy as an expectant mother and you can be sure that this will be one of the finest moments of your family’s life.
You will be so ready to tell your acquaintances and friends the good news and they will share with you a great feeling of anticipation as the big day approaches.
As your feelings of happiness know no bounds, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the World would be happy for you as well and while this is largely the case, certain elements of negativity may, however, still arise.
Surely, your boss is happy for you, but he or she may not be on quite the same level as everyone else and be particularly concerned with the operation of the business. In fact, in this case the business may come squarely in first place and you may have to be particularly persuasive if you are considering flexible working hours for your busy times ahead.
You may come to find that your boss is really a dinosaur and can be very inflexible, unfortunately, so you will have to call on all your powers of creativity and persuasiveness.
Seek out a co-worker or friend who has been in the position that you are in now and sit down to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her, to see how the two-way communication with her boss was initiated and how the situation panned out. While you are at this research stage, talk to other friends in other industries or professions and see what solutions they were able to come up with.
This is the time to be very creative and forward thinking and consider telecommuting or working from home. The good news is that this is becoming more and more of a trend as companies seek to save overheads. If the kind of work you do supports this, all the better.
Don’t forget, that you must work out what would be the ideal situation for you, first and foremost. In other words, be careful what you wish for!
At the top of your list should be an ideal scenario, but you should also have options available in a less-than-perfect situation. Look at your home commitments first before asking for something you might not be able to accommodate.
Be strategic, yet careful when you discuss ideas and options with colleagues. In a situation where you collectively share the workload in your office, see how you could come up with a more flexible schedule by dividing up the work creatively. You must be more than willing to pull your weight, of course, and before you consider approaching others or your boss with the idea, be fully confident that it will be a win/win/win position for everybody.
If your job essentially allows you to complete certain tasks regardless of time, or what used to be known as a “job and finish” situation, determine whether you would be able to do this during your personal time as part of a newly revised schedule.
If you look at your boss as a dinosaur, maybe you can cause him or her to stop chewing the vegetation for a moment and realise that you can be equally as productive, if not more so, by working this more flexible schedule.
In most situations, online life coaching can be another excellent source of research for you. Thankfully, coaching for women can always help by looking at a variety of situations and suggesting options. In this day and age, professional coaching is not just for sports players or executives any more!
Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.
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