Creating Family Friendly Work

I had my first TV interview today! I was a guest on That’s Life with Robin Swoboda on the Fox channel in Cleveland. It is a local talk show that touches on a wide variety of “life” issues. I thought I would be nervous, but it was actually a lot of fun.

On the show I shared five strategies to create family friendly work:
1) Negotiate a schedule change at your current job (i.e. compressed work week, job share, part-time, telecommuting).
2) Get a new boss. Your company may offer flexible work options, but your boss may have discretion in deciding who gets to work in a flexible schedule. A new boss may be the key to getting flexibility.
3) Find a family friendly company. You may need to move on to a new company that has family friendly support such as flexible schedules, generous time-off and other benefits that support working parents.
4) Make a career change. You can also move into a career that allows more flexible work. Work that is more independent in nature can allow more flexibility.
5) Go it alone. Starting your own business can allow you to create family friendly work because you are the boss.

Watch the entire interview here.