Jumping Off the Mommy Track

You’ve arranged a great schedule where you can work from home two days a week. You feel good about being able to spend more time with your family and your company pats itself on the back for being progressive. But have you inadvertently sabotaged your career? Will you still be considered for the big promotions and the plum projects - or have you unwittingly put yourself on the Mommy Track?

How can you send the message that you are still serious about your career without sacrificing the flexibility that you have worked so hard to construct? While many companies have family friendly policies with generous maternity and paternity leaves as well as compensation time and flexible schedule options, employees often don’t take advantage of these programs.  At least not employees who want to be taken seriously.

 “If I had taken the full three month maternity leave that my company allowed, I would have never been able to catch up,” says Allison, a CPA from California. “There’s an unwritten rule that you have to be here all day, everyday. The people who do work from home or have flexible hours aren’t considered players.”

While you can’t wait for your company to change its point of view, you can make sure that you are viewed as a valuable and dedicated employee. Is it is possible to stay on the fast track at work and still have some semblance of family life? “Yes,” say the few women who have successfully beat the system. The key is to think ahead, be your own publicity agent and don’t apologize.  You’ve earned this.

Be available. Post your schedule, phone and fax numbers on your office door. Let your boss, co- workers and clients know when they can meet with you in the office and how to reach you at home.

Make your home office a real office. Buy a fax machine, a copier and install a separate phone line. Be sure that your computer is in good shape and never let the kids play with it. Ever.

Reinforce your professionalism. When you are out of the office make sure that the message you send is “working from the home office,” not volunteering at the nursery school or bringing the dog to the vet. Don’t over share. No one has to know that you left the office early to take your daughter to the orthodontist.  Just say that you have a four o’clock appointment.

Mind your phone manners. Have a professional sounding message on your phone machine. Clients, coworkers and your boss don’t want to hear a toddler babble for two minutes before they can leave a message. Answer your phone at home with “This is Sally Smart.” It sounds infinitely more business-like than “Hello?” and lets people know that they have reached the right number.

If the dog is barking and the baby is howling - don’t answer the phone. Let the answering machine take the message. You can return the call at a quieter moment.
“I‘ve conducted business from the bathroom,” says Allison, the CPA. “It’s the only room where the door locks. The acoustics in the shower stall make my clients think that I have them on speaker phone.”

Power lunch. Use your lunch hour to pay bills, run errands and do the little things that take up valuable weekend time or sneak in a lunch with your child at school or a quick workout at the gym.

Dress the part. Keep your clothing appropriately corporate, your hair neatly styled and your appearance strictly professional. Forget the macaroni necklace that your daughter made in preschool and wear it on the weekend instead.

Stay late. Hire a babysitter or enlist your spouse to watch the kids two or three nights a week so that you can put in face time after five o’clock. Dashing out the door every night doesn’t send a message that your job is important. Plus, staying late will give your coworkers a good opportunity to get to know you a little better.

Sneak out. If you do leave early, be visible as late in the afternoon as possible. Drop off a memo with your boss’ secretary on your way out the door, e-mail co-workers and return phone calls minutes before you head out. Use your Blackberry to respond to e-mails even after you’ve kicked off your shoes at home.

Promote yourself. Don’t give your boss a chance to wonder if your flexible schedule is working. If sales have increased, if projects have been completed ahead of deadline, if clients are amazed at how quickly you always return their calls, let your boss know.