Outputs

One of the perks of being a newish mum is that you get to access to a whole new group of potential friends. As we get older, the opportunities to meet new friends diminish. Then your kids start making friends, and you have the opportunity to piggyback on their friendships. I've made several good friends cashing in on my kids' groundwork.

With these new friendships comes the 'getting to know you' stage. I love this part, especially when the conversation turns to work. What do you or did you do in your life BC (Before Children)? I'm fascinated to hear about people's careers. Having spent so much time figuring out how to balance motherhood and work - and trying to determine what my true motivations are for being driven to merge them - I find others' journeys incredibly interesting.

I've found a common thread over the years. Women returning to work after maternity leave are driven to output – and not only the women who return to traditional work structures, but also those who move into part time or voluntary work situations. Freshly returned working mums are seriously driven to output. They are the queens of delivery. They get stuff done and usually ruffle a few feathers on the way.

I think this desire to output at work comes from the slow feedback cycle of parenting. Parenting is a long game. You are trying to build a person. You get indicators of how that's going as they grow, but you don’t see the results for 20 to 30 years. That's a long wait for an output.

Even if you break it down into learning specific skills, it can be a five year process. My current battle is swimming lessons with a child who won’t even get in the water. It's going to take at least five years for him to learn to swim. And just to be clear, the refusal to get into the water has nothing to do with fear - he's exploring power and control issues. It might end up being even longer.

Work gives us an outlet to deliver. We can control a process and get something done. We can cross something off the list and it's done - not like dinner that keeps reappearing on the list daily.

I think the opportunity to output is one of the major motivations for women returning to work. As employers we need to understand and embrace this desire. We need to give those freshly returned mums the space and opportunity to quench their thirst for delivery.

As employees returning to work we need to be aware of our motivations and manage them. It is easy to get disheartened by the pace of others. We need to remember that others are not necessarily as enthused to deliver. So take them with you, and share your new-found enthusiasm for work, but don’t drag them kicking and screaming. Remember they're probably working full-time to your part-time and have been since their last holiday.

One of my newest mum friends shared something she'd taken to her workplace. When she returned to work she put a post-it note at her desk saying “what is your output today?” The way she saw it was that someone was paying her to be there, so the post-it asked her what she'd done that day to earn her salary. The post-it caught on and her colleague asked for one, then her whole team, and then someone made posters. She influenced the culture of her team with her refreshed perspective and desire to be more output-focussed.

So remember to ask yourself, what is my output today? Someone has paid for your time, what have you given them for it?