Tips to be professional and generally establish an efficient life, please!

[wheresthespacetorch]

I've had a part time wfh job for a few years now; which has fit very easily around family life. I've got one primary age, home educated DD and toddler DS. DH is employed ft, currently at home but normally in an office.

I've just got a promotion which means more hours (still not full time, but fuller than before) and I'm now managing the team who were previously my peers; some of whom also applied for this promoted role.

So, please, tell me your top tips for managing this:

• how do I move from colleague to manager in a positive and professional way?

• what are the things that help you manage a busy life as efficiently as possible? What should my priorities be?

If you are home educating - both parents working already - how are you going To home educate?

I work from home with flexible hours, around the home education.

Most people want to do a good job and know their stuff.

You need to ask questions like ... what do you suggest we do with this problem, how can I make things better for you, what do you feel you need to be more successful/work life balance etc

Give them some responsibility for their jobs.

Even when mistakes happen, you find the real cause and deal with that. People muck up. It’s never intentional and should be treated as a mistake.

Ask your staff for feed back and ask if anyone has any worries.

If you work from home schedule team get together, so everyone can have a chat, not just proper meetings.

Once you are managing other people (who are full time or part time?) you will find this will increase your workload more than you are possibly expecting. It is going to be very difficult to be an effective manager and home educate. Does your employer know that you are home educating your daughter beyond covid? Is your son also at home full time?

@wentawaycameback

Once you are managing other people (who are full time or part time?) you will find this will increase your workload more than you are possibly expecting. It is going to be very difficult to be an effective manager and home educate. Does your employer know that you are home educating your daughter beyond covid? Is your son also at home full time?

I’d be surprised if they do

And how this is going to work - 1 full time parent, 1 almost full time in new managerial role, home educating, toddler - something will have to give

Like pps, I don't see how you can possibly home-educate while taking on a new role with more hours, with the other parent working FT out of the home. In fact, it is boggling my mind that you are even thinking about it, and that this wasn't your first consideration.

My 'tip' is that you need to take this job seriously, your work-life balance is likely to change considerably, and in order to be a functional professional, you need to not think of your new role as something that can be fitted around educating your child at home, and make other arrangements.

Crikey. Only on Mumsnet!

Thank you for the tips. For those who are concerned, yes - my employer knows we home educate! And of course I wouldn't take a job that I literally couldn't perform; how bizarre to assume I hadn't thought that through.

Without going into details of the nature of my work, I will now be working several nights (ie 7-11pm) a week, and more at weekends. During that time my husband will be available to care for our children.

I was asking for tips because life is going to get a lot busier; I'm losing a lot of what is currently my leisure / life admin / faffing around time and was hoping some of you highly organised and efficient people could help me out.

Bloody hell this thread
We home Ed & I know many HE families with 2 working parents!
Sorry I can’t answer your questions OP but congratulations on your promotion

Dont micromanage people but make sure they are clear of their responsibilities/expectations.
Dont have too many meetings often an informal coffee is better than a full on meeting.
Keep a diary of appointments/deadlines with reminders set, for work and home.
Have realistic to do lists.
Just be yourself some may resent you now being a boss but that is their issue to get over.

I think your problem then if the others are working normal hours is effective communication with your team. You will be communicating with them at 11pm but won’t be getting a response until the next day when you will be busy with your kids. You will need to work our what your core hours will be and try to make sure some of those hours overlap with your team. Managing people is very different to just logging on and getting on with your own work at whatever time suits you. If a member of your team has an issue they need to discuss will you be available for a serious conversation with our children in the background? Things like that will need consideration. How will you be monitoring thier output?