Tips for Preparing Your Office for Maternity Leave, Before and After  

Every mother, every pregnancy, and every circumstance surrounding a maternity leave looks and feels different. It’s important to get ready for your baby and prepare for the changes that will affect your family, but it’s also a good idea to make sure things at work are in order while you are away from your job.

Here are a few tips to help you prepare at the office for your little one:

• Start early. Pregnancy and the arrival of a baby are never predictable, so it is better to be prepared than to scramble to cover work while you are in labor. As you enter into the third trimester, have a conversation with your boss and give a trusted colleague a list of things that need to be taken care of and people who should be notified in case you are out earlier than expected. Make sure your list is complete: Include both internal and external customers, cross-functional collaborators, and any meetings/trainings that you have booked.
• Find your backup. Every company is different, but there are always tasks, projects, and responsibilities that will need to be handled while you are out.  Make sure the person taking on your tasks in addition to his/her own has clear expectations and instructions for how to be effective. Also, remember that it is unlikely that ALL of your work will keep moving while you are out, so it is important to prioritize the tasks. Give precedence to projects that are crucial to the business and need to continue progressing. This is not the time to highlight how busy you are; this is about ensuring that the most valuable projects tied to your company’s success are covered in the best way possible.
• Delegate decisions. When you take your leave, make sure you empower your colleagues to make decisions in your absence. While it can be tempting to tell them to call you or to check in with you if necessary, resist the urge to do so. It is hard to anticipate the time it will take you to recover from the delivery (mentally, physically, and emotionally) or if your baby, as wonderful and perfect as she or he is, may need extra attention during the day. You won’t want to have to find ways to make your sleep-deprived brain function when the biggest problem you really want to solve is how to find the time to shower.
• Leave documentation and access. Make sure that the colleagues who are covering your responsibilities can easily get to all of the information they need. Ensure that your project documentation includes the complete history of the project and outlines what is expected to happen while you are out.  Where you can, get a little bit ahead with work, but leave room for flexibility in case things change while you are out.

When it’s time to return to the office, expect to face some challenges. It is important that you put your game face on and prepare yourself for the emotional roller-coaster you might experience. Here are some tips to re-enter the workplace with grace:

• Don’t react. Even if you took just a short six-week leave, expect that things in the office will have changed. Realize that some changes will be a surprise, some will be positive, and some will be initially perceived as awful. Your emotions after having a baby, especially on those first few days back in the office, likely won’t be in check with the real you yet, so it is ok to give yourself the permission to withhold judgment or reaction. Once you’ve figured out how to show up to the office with two matching shoes, that’s a good sign you are ready to dive in.
• Take time to come up to speed. Just like you prioritized the projects before you left on maternity leave, prioritize the projects you need to come back up to speed on when you return to the office. Check in with your boss and those covering your work to get a quick reading on the project status. Use their ratings (red, yellow, and green are helpful) and the business priorities to determine what you should take on first. It is hard to get on top of all your projects after several weeks away from the office, so it’s best to maximize your energy by focusing on the most critical.
• Find and take the help. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and figuring out the balance of being a working mother and a corporate superstar isn’t going to happen overnight, either. Be kind to yourself–find people who are willing to offer a helping hand, and let them help you.  It isn’t uncommon to find some unlikely supporters in those first weeks back–men and women who have gone through the same experience and know the challenges, or younger colleagues who hope to share the family and career path that you have taken.  Bringing you a cup of coffee, staying on a project to provide some additional support, or even giving you a friendly smile in the halls are all simple gestures that can remind you that we are in it together.

A growing number of women share the working mom title, but that doesn’t change the story you are writing for yourself.  Remember that advice for getting it all done is pervasive, well-intended, and sometimes, worth its weight in gold, but keep in mind that this is your adventure, and you can live it any way you want.