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. This is one of the most momentous times of your family life and for an expectant mother can be simply amazing.
Friends and acquaintances will also be over the moon and will all look forward to the big day with much anticipation.
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. You may soon come to realise that the business is classified squarely in first position in the eyes of your boss and if you want to consider flexible working hours as you go forward, you are going to have to be really persuasive.
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.
Your creativity may well unveil to you the idea of working from home or telecommuting, especially if you are forward thinking. 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.
Above all else, you must first decide what would be the absolutely ideal situation for you. In other words, be careful what you wish for!
Look for an ideal scenario and come up with options for less-than-perfect deals. Above all else, look at your home situation and understand what you will be able to accommodate before asking.
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 willing to pull your weight in other areas and above all else make sure that you are confident it would be a win/win/win situation for the colleagues, the employer and yourself.
Some of us have jobs that expect us to complete certain tasks as part of a “job and finish” approach, regardless of the time that it takes and as part of your new schedule idea, contemplate whether you will be able to achieve this goal during your personal time.
The more you can show your boss that you would be equally as productive, if not more productive by working a flexible schedule, the more the dinosaur is likely to stop chewing the vegetation and listen to you!
In most situations, online life coaching can be another excellent source of research for you. Luckily, coaching for women can generally help by suggesting various options for a variety of situations. This is far from being the private domain of executives or sports players and you should turn to professional coaching, as well!
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.
Tags: business, coaching, family, parenting, work-life balance
