Maternity And Paternity Leave

Maternity leave fast approaching? Here’s how to make sure your office doesn’t IMPLODE while you’re gone!

The big day is coming up, and you have a thousand things to do.And, while you’re busy building that crib and deciding which bottles you’re going to hold at 3 am, everyone at your office is TERRIFIED.Because let’s face it, the same stuff that’s going to make you a great mom is the glue that holds your office together. You somehow have the ability to remember the name of every client you’ve ever had.You remember where the binder clips are for the one time a year the company prints out those trade show packets.You’re the one that knows which version was the latest version of the PowerPoint presentation, and which vendor prints those silky business cards that everyone compliments.But the fact is, so much of the business is buried in your brain, and it’s about to get buried just a little deeper.If your office has begged you to “write down everything you do”, here are some simple tips for getting started:

1. Think in terms of time

What are the things you do daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually? Not that you’ll be gone forever (or maybe you will!), but time-based tasks are a great place to start.

2. Take your hats off one by one

No doubt, you do a little bit of everything. Unless you have someone taking over your entire position, chances are the rest of the team will need to cover for you. So, try to separate all the ‘jobs’ you really have.

3. Reverse engineer your calendar

For the next week, every time you finish doing something, open up Outlook or Google Calendar and adjust your meetings to reflect the actual time you spent on something. This will help show you which areas will need the most coverage.

4. Test your coworkers

Before your water breaks and the office goes into a panic, try looping coworkers into projects while you’re still around so that there is a bit of cross-training.

5. Take a practice day

Sure, you’re about to take some time off. But, spare 1 day in your second or third trimester to stay 100% out of communication with the team at the office. That will help identify the biggest gaps while you still have time to fill them. And, fun excuse to go shopping on a weekday

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