Prepping for maternity leave?

Curls218

I have a little time before I really need to concentrate on this, but in my job we do things months in advance, so a lot of what I'm working on now is going to be happening while I'm out this fall.  Any advice on how to prep to be out on maternity leave?

FTR - if my bosses have come up with a plan for coverage, they haven't told me yet (split it amongst the people currently here & hire a temp assistant or whatever).

I'm already trying to make sure I write out my reports with all the info that would be needed so no one needs to bug me.  My plan is currently to work in the office until mid-Sept then work from home until I have the baby (my commute is an hour and the hospital is 20ish min in the opposite direction).  I'm a FTM so while general theory is that I'll deliver late, I want to make sure I'm prepped in enough time in case I go early or get put on bedrest or something.

Karla CS

I started planning my leave months in advance. All of my calls with clients were documented so that if someone needed to, they could refer back to notes. (Probably best practice for all the time, but who has time for that!?!? Only someone who's not taking on any new business!)

I was actively part of determining how my portfolio would be managed while I was out - I brought on a junior person to handle day to day ops and then specific people were assigned to guide him on bigger matters. 

It was key for me to have a final cut off day for when I was leaving - I picked 2 weeks before my due date, so the transition was actually really smooth and I didn't have anyone trying to call me.

There's a lot of moving pieces - if I were you, I wouldn't rely on your bosses to determine how to manage things when you're out. I'd try to be an active participant in the process so that you know that things will be handled well in your absence, that people won't have to take on a huge burden while you're out, and so that you can properly get anyone up to speed before you're out and business can go on as close to normal as possible. 

TheBorg7of9

I had my first baby a week early, so don't plan on going late!

 

Sorry, no advice on planning for maternity leave.  I think you'll find a good list if you search online, like leaving an out of office message on your phone and e-mail and a bunch of other things.  Good luck. 

Clynnpollock

I'm due in Dec with our 2nd. My company is growing at this point, so they were planning on needing new staff within the next year. Management decided to hire someone now that would fit future needs, but that was capable of handling my job in my absence. They are interviewing this week. Hoping to have someone hired in time for 3 months of training and 2 months of doing the job with me reviewing to be sure they've got it down. The vast majority of my workload is monthly items (not daily/weekly) so it's important that they have plenty of time to train - even with this schedule they only get to touch things 4-5 times before they have to do it completely on their own, which isn't as ideal was we (management and I both) like. 

 

I would approach your boss and see if they have ideas/suggestions or would appreciate your input. I know that I was actively solicited by management to help make decisions both when I had DS and now with this LO...  

rockychryslerb2010

I'm in a similar role, where most of my planning and prep is done months in advance for large projects and new development/software deployments.  I was lucky and had a very busy period the 18 months leading up to when I was out, but the three months I was out was relatively quiet.

They did not hire someone specific to take over my duties, rather they were split amongst 2-3 other people on my team.  Basically, we were at a good point where developers were working on our previously spec'ed out functionality, and we were not really ready to roll out the new functionality.  I had a document that contained the key details for each project, the contacts, current status and the next step as far as expectations for the next 3-4 months.  I started putting the document together 2-3 weeks before I left, reviewed it with my manager to get his approval, then reviewed with the individuals taking over my duties.  It worked well, and I only received calls / emails over my leave about super urgent issues (2-3 came up during that time).