I started a working moms group in my town. I thought it would be a good way to get to know other working moms in town and share advice. So far we've met twice and have had 6-8 people each time. I have about 20 people on my list.
Most of the women work full time. The ones with part-time or flexible schedules negotiated them up front when they started their job, and said their companies were fine with it. Only one woman said that she negotiated a flexible arrangement after being on the job for a while, and she worked from home one day a week. The consensus was that it's best to raise this once you're fairly certain you've got the job, or after you've established yourself (meaning the worst time to ask is within the first two years or so after you start). One person told a story about how her boss didn't hire a woman everyone else loved because her request that she work from home made her seem less committed, but she thought he actually didn't like the applicant and was using her request as an excuse.
Most of the women have babies. So far I've only met two with school-age kids, and have pumped them for information about the public schools.
ALL of the women outsource house-cleaning. And we all agreed that it preserves our sanity that the two days a week we have to spend entirely with our kids aren't taken up by vacuuming and scrubbing toilets. (Besides, we're stimulating the economy.)
I'm hoping that as we continue meeting and people get to know each other, we can develop a real network where people feel comfortable reaching out to the group with questions. Meanwhile, I feel like it's my responsibility to keep it from fizzling out. Do any of you have a group like this, formally or informally? So far it's been free-form, with everyone discussing whatever topic comes up, but I'd love to hear ideas about how and whether to focus meetings or have certain activities or discussion topics.
At my neighborhood new moms' group, we each share a weekly high and low, a tip, and a question, and that seems to spur lots of good conversation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic idea, by the way! I want to hear more about how it progresses.
Wow, I have actually been thinking of starting one too but I don't then know where to start. Where did you find your members/recruits?
ReplyDeleteWhile we don't have an exclusive working moms group, back home there is an expat mothers group that is amazing for help, tips, and other things you might need living there. The majority of the moms aren't working, but outsourcing cleaning is a MUST for everyone!
ReplyDeleteI totally want to start one also - what di dyou do?
ReplyDeleteIt was easy for me -- there's already a moms mailing list in my town, and there actually used to be a working moms group. I initially sent out an email asking if that still existed, and I got several responses saying, "No, but I would join a group like that if one started." I sent out a few more emails to the list inviting people to join, set up a Google Groups mailing list, and hosted the first two meetings at my house. I've also been sending out the very occasional email with an interesting article or question, hoping to keep people interested and ease them into the idea of using the mailing list as a resource. At the end of each meeting, I've been asking people if they have any suggestions about scheduling, locations, topics, or in general what they want out of the group. So far, so good, although I think a little more structure would be helpful, or maybe have some structured and some unstructured meetings. Kristine, I really like that idea -- I may steal that for next time.
ReplyDeleteAt my old office (the law firm in LA), there was a moms group. A female partner headed it and basically we would meet for lunch once a month in a conference room. There was no agenda and the group was very informal, but we usually ended up talking about our kids. Sometimes a provoking editorial (think Tiger Mom) or a question would be emailed out to the group. It was so nice to have that as a support group and a sounding board. It also introduced me as a first year to women throughout the firm that I could relate to on the level of being a mom. I would think that would be a fairly easy group to start anywhere with a few moms. I like that you have a group with women in all kinds of jobs.
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