What a mother should not do at work

In most companies, mothers have a hard time conciliating motherhood and their jobs. The reality is that as much as the woman loves and is brilliant in her job, after she become a mom, not only she has less time and energy to dedicate to the job, but her priorities also change.  In any case, nobody wants to work hard and don’t be recognized because she is sending the wrong messages.  In order not to be overlooked for career opportunities or seen as less committed than their colleagues, mothers need to be extra careful in their behavior in the office:

• Don’t talk too much about your children in the office – specially not the nasty bits – when your colleagues ask you about your children, they are being nice, but they don’t want details. And it is too personal to share
• Of course you can have pictures and draws from your children in your office, but refrain yourself from exposing too much. Save most of them to your home, or make a digital folder you can visit on your own
• Avoid commenting about your broken nights, complicated morning routine, childcare issues and so on – tough it is all normal administration for a mom, your colleagues might see you as a person with a too complicated personal life and it might be used against you
• If you need to talk with your children, the childcare, the pediatrician, etc during office hours, be discrete – if you are lucky enough to have a door, close it and be quick; if you work in an open office, try to go to a private room to make the call, without announcing it to your colleagues
• When you need to be absent to attend appointments in the childcare, school, pediatrician, etc, be discreet in the communication (meaning, communicate you will be absent due to an issue regarding your children, but not too many details) and try to compensate the hours
• If you work from home, in the night, be sure that your manager knows about it. This work is usually taken for granted and not recognized

What is your experience as a working mother? Have you seen cases that could be avoided with a bit of extra care?

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