Crisis at NY Report: Could It Happen to You?

Over the weekend, I received a text from one of our more tenured employees (out of eight) who said it looked like she was going to give birth in a few days (eight weeks early). 

Now this was not a shock to me. First of all, of course I knew she was pregnant, and she was crafting a plan for someone to cover for her during her maternity leave. Second, my son was born seven weeks early, so I have seen how these things happen. 

Coincidentally, we were scheduled to have a meeting with her temporary replacement tomorrow. Between that meeting and knowing that the expecting employee was the type to have a well-thought out plan for transition, I haven't been overly concerned. That said, not having that face-to-face meeting with everyone involved is far from ideal. 

So this morning I checked with the employee to see if she was up for a "final" conference call with her temporary replacement. Fortunately, she was and the call went pretty well.

 Here are a few observations, lessons and realizations:

• I know for the length of the maternity leave, things will be very hectic. This will affect my team and myself. To lessen the impact, I will probably put a few projects on hold so that no one “looses it.”
• Even with planning, things like this could have happened. This particular employee has, over time, created what essentially is a manual on doing her job.  So even though we weren't fully prepared, having documentation helps.
• My first concern when I heard she was going to deliver early was with her health and well-being. When she called me this morning to confirm she was going to give birth soon, I told her not to worry about anything in the office. And, I meant it.
• I also told her we were not going to call her, but for her to contact us when she was ready to be updated on how things were in the office.
• My team has, in the first few hours of the situation, stepped up wonderfully. And for that, I’m thankful.

This situation reminded me of our new blog, Life Equity which discusses work/life balance. How do you make it work when the unexpected happens?