Hey Bloggers – this is my first Blog and wow – it has opened up a whole new world of communications in my life. I am a Gen X born in 1966 and since first hearing about Blogs I never thought it was for me – I’ve always thought it was for teenagers or Gen Y’s at Uni or computer programmers testing out their latest code.
I have changed after one weekend of “blogging”.
Since being asked to write a Blog on the Telstra site I have been doing loads of research on Blogs. I would not want to break a common standard if there is one or a set of principles that Bloggers are used to – so I checked out some Blogs on the web for the first time. I also asked some friends and my husband and they looked at me with blank stares.
There are all different types of Blogs on the web – some sound like a diary or a private journal, some track a project, some comment on recent media articles and then there is the “Group type Blog” where a bunch of people come together to collaborate on an issue or a topic. Here is a Blog that tries to define it for us:
Deciding what my Blog will be about has me going down so many tracks. What would be interesting to readers? Georgia Lee’s weekly journal about being a 39 year old woman working at Telstra in a senior sales and marketing role, a working mother of three kids under nine and writing about what I get up to each day? Maybe a combination of all these things.
This week my first edition Blog is my top 10 tips for balancing being a mother and working full time in a senior role at Telstra.
- Choose the right partner. This is a day in day out issue that a lot of my friends and work colleagues agree with – getting this first one right means that a lot of the hard work and support is so much easier. I could not do what I do without an understanding husband – it also helps that he is not in the corporate world to get the balance right at home. Important for your partner to have their own interests and job. My husband is a sports teacher and basketball coach.
- Recognise that you can not do it all. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and realise that other people really do like helping out. Asking one of the mums at school for help the other day was hard for me but she really wanted to help out and enjoyed the chance to help. This one is hard for me to do. Most companies can help here too. The trick is to know what to ask for and to not expect your manager to know what you need.
- Communication is key. Setting expectations with everyone around you about how you intend to work eg work hours, important days with the kids, what time you will be home.
- Every day is different - every kid is different – every job is different. Work with what you have to make the combo work. My job is different every day some days I have to travel interstate – this means that the whole household has to work around the trip especially if it is longer than a day. This is where mum comes in to help out a lot.
- Managing time at work to get the important face to face work done. Leaving the emails and more routine tasks for other times – eg after hours.
- Use the technology – being in the telco industry for over 18 years has meant I am a big user of all the communications tools available. I have a Blackberry to keep an eye on important emails from the team, a blue tooth for when I am in the car, wireless broadband for when I am out of the office or travelling, broadband at home for everyone, Foxtel for everyone to keep them happy. Christmas wish list – iPod, PS2, home theatre, fully wireless sound system for each room.
- Pick the times that you want to be at home and work around that. I prefer mornings with the kids. Over the years I have worked out I can be more routine and reliable to be there for the kids in the morning – I can not always be sure I will be home at a similar time each night especially with travel and work commitments on projects.
- Get the kids involved. Bring them into the office, show them how the blackberry works, ask them to help around the house to lighten the load on the cleaning that never ends.
- Get a cleaner – everyone agrees on this one but I have not got my husband over the line after 10 years – he takes it as a personal insult that I am questioning his ability to keep the house clean.
- Don’t be afraid to question whether the “working mother” balance is working for you. My husband and I have regular “check ins” with each other to test what is working and not working. Don’t let it go too long if the balance is getting out of whack. Be prepared to change on a regular basis. Mainly because the kids are always changing and so is your job.
Here is the quote of the week (www.quotationspage.com):
If we don’t change direction soon we’ll end up where we are going!