Leaving work is going to be sooo hard......

[rufalina]

Well actually I would like to think it will be good and fun and I am really looking forward to my Mat leave and my new baby, but my work situation make it seem so hard sometimes.

I work for a small company (7 staff) as the office manager / pa. Until last month I was the only admin person here, and have been since company inception. All the systems and things were set up by me, run by me and overseen by me... I have worked with my boss for years, and he and I have a great relationship... but... he (and the company) rely on me for so much that I cant imagine how I am going to be able to have any time off at all.

We have discussed the fact that I would like to be off work for six months (min) with at least one full month off (no work, no work related calls etc) with me then starting to do a tiny bit of work from home, working back up to getting into the office a few hrs a week toward the end of the 6 months, then back 4 days a week.

But... after having had a week of annual leave last week I get back to find the office in a mess, things out of stock, work not done, mail not opened etc....

I just cant see how me not being here is gong to work. I am now thinking of how I can train up my new admin person to better run the office, I thought we were going well, but aparantly not... My boss said to me... i am pleased you are back... nothing happens without you here.... UGH... not what I need or expected to hear.

I guess what I need to do is start listing in great detail everything that needs to be done, when, and how, and spend April and May working through it all with everyone.

My worst thing is not being able to let go, and knowing that I can do it faster and in a way I like, so not always sharing when I know better. You might say I am a control freak, and I need to remember that I need to let go.

Anyway, not sure if anyone can help with this, but I think getting this out might have helped me work through it a bit.

How do you make your boss not reliant on you? yet still feel like you are valuable and integral to the company.?

[~StarBright~]

rufalina...

Sounds like you do alot of work!!!

I know what u mean , i am in a similar place with my job- only there is someone able and willing to take my place, but it means ALOT of work for one person, and i KNOW that my little jobs that i do are going to be backed up for when i get back!! I am currently trying to work out when i can leave- or stop doing SOME of the work load now so that the other girl has a chance to see just how much there is to do without me there.

I sort of do two jobs in the one office- two businessess, one i help with and one i do all of. One she will have no worries taking over because all i do is a few little things here and there for that business to help her out, but the other business is all orders and invoices and standard orders and remembering who orders what when etc, and the book work has a flow to it that alot of it is in my head and i just "know" what has to be done after doing it for so long, and when i go there are about 100 things i will need to get out of my head and onto paper so she can do the job. I will be close by if she needs me, but as you say, time off with no work related phone calls etc would be nice!!

I have decided to slowly get her doing things while i am still here, and letting her have a practice few weeks of doing it all to see how it goes before i actually leave. And like you- the control freak in me comes out lol and i know things wont be done EXACTLY how i like to do them, and the longer i leave, the more work i will need to catch up on!!

Is there anyone at your company that you feel you could pass on all your knowledge to, and trust they will do your job properly? I would do like you say, and really use these months you have left there trying to pass on as much info to people as possible to help them get along with out you.

Its hard, like you say, how do you make them NOT rely on you, and still feel valuable? Its a hard task. I think its a matter of letting go, and for your time off, really trying hard not think about the mess you will be coming back to!!

Good luck!!!

[jaspen]

I was going to suggest a similar thing to Starbright - can you start people doing their new tasks now before you go and take a huge step back being there to give advice/support but not actually doing the tasks thus granting them ownership of their new responsibilities sooner rather than later. In this way you have the confidence when you leave that thiings will run ok?? People tend not to do things if they think someone else will tidy it all back up in a week or twos time but if they know from now on it is their responsibility and take the opportunity to learn now while there is someone there to advise them on how to clean up their own mess.

Sorry I'm very tired today Rufalina but I hope you get my drift

[rufalina]

Thanks for your replies and advice. I think you are right it really seems like the best way to go.

I am going to spend some time over the next few weeks working out what needs to be done, and how I do it and making notes then start the handover process and "pass the baton".

I think for me the hardest thing is going to be giving up that control and watching people make mistakes or do it differently to me, but I am sure I can bite my tongue and just watch and teach and help resolve the issues as they arise.

[suse]

It's a really hard thing to do, isn't it! I was in a similar situation - with the company for 6 years, handled the technical and sys-ad aspects of the studio and knew stuff that nobody else did. The difference for me was that I left entirely instead of taking maternity leave, as we moved interstate when I was six months pregnant.

I wrote a detailed procedures manual (over 50pages) which gave step by step instructions of how, why and when everything should be done. I also had six weeks to train my replacement. I had a systematic plan in place of training him so that by the time I left he was able to do the majority of things that I did, and knew enough to be able to find out about the things that he didn't know. Six weeks was not enough time to teach somebody a job that had evolved over six years, so I prioritised and taught him the most essential things, especially those tasks that definitely couldn't be delegated to somebody with more experience (eg: my bosses).

It was really hard to let go, especially as I knew that I could do a better job in a fraction of the time, and I did get some frankly ridiculous questions in the first few months after I left, but now I only get the occasional question. It was a bit hard to realise that they really could cope without me (LOL), but I consoled myself with the knowledge that they too found it hard to see me go, and they still consider me a valuable asset to the company. I am still in touch with the two owners - who are like family now - and we are talking about me undertaking projects which I can work from at home.

I'm not sure if anything I've said is of any help - it's more of a ramble really - I too was unable to answer the question of how to make them self sufficient without feeling left out - kinda like raising kids really!

[rufalina]

Thanks suse.

I have an induction manual that I wrote a while ago, so I am dusting that off today and starting to make a new one for my role with the thought of doing some handover in April

It helps to know that I am not alone in my situation and that others have successfully done it before. Gives me confidence to let go!

Thanks.

[jgal]

Yes - certainly a tricky one! I was doing 4 different roles when I went on maternity leave and it was exhausting trying to train everyone up. I made sure I documented a lot of my processes and spent a lot of time with the girl that was taking over from me. I obviously "over-trained" her though because she was a casual hired for the 12m I was off, but when I came back, they gave her permanent status and moved me to another department!!! I was quite upset by it at first because I felt they mustn't have been happy with me, she must've done a better job etc. I had to remind myself that when I started, noone really trained me, but when she started, I trained her with everything I knew so I was at least owed some credit for that. It turned out the role I was moved to was more for convenience sake as it was a role they had left unfilled for 6 months and it just made it easier to send me there rather than distrupt everyone else to slot me back in where I left off, and there was no need for me to go back to my old position. This one is better for me anyway as there is a lot less overtime (I never needed nor wanted the overtime) so I can go home when I need to be there for my son. I also just found out recently that the jobs I was doing was split up to 4 people! So obviously I wasn't made redundant by the new girl and now that I'm back I have managed to learn new skills which will only make me more valuable to the company. My advice is to try and document and train as much as you can so you can switch off and enjoy motherhood for the short period that you can be 100% mum and not work. They will manage, then when you go back they will be al the better for you having left and there will be new skills for you to learn and develop.