The Fall Flexibility Conversation: How to Protect the Work + Personal Calendars

The school district calendar hit my inbox last week and I immediately opened our shared family calendar started and started adding in all the early dismissals, school events, and days off. I had a headache by the time I got to October on the calendar. 

Early release some days at 11am, some days at 1pm. Some days there will be aftercare, other days no aftercare. Part of me wants to plan for it, and the other part of me can’t give that much attention to something that will happen 2 months from now. 

And yet - future me will thank current me for planning, preparing and communicating accordingly. So yes - while it is yet another take on your to do list, planning and discussing the fall calendar is imperative to setting yourself (and your calendar) up for success later in the year. 

If you're staring at your own version of that calendar right now, you are not imagining the pressure. And you are not underestimating the WORK it takes to make everything work: Drop off at 7:45am, meeting at 8am, babysitter for back to school night because your partner has a work obligation and repeat every week. You’re also not alone in this. 

Here's how you can protect your calendar before the chaos really starts to kick in (because we haven’t even talked about sick days yet). 

Do not wait until the week of the change in schedule to communicate it to your team/manager. 

It reads as unprepared and unpredictable. Every one-off "gotta run to school" makes you the variable your manager has to track. 

Instead: tell once - early and with a plan - for all competing calendar conflicts between personal and work. 

What is the fall flexibility conversation?

It's a single, proactive conversation where you provide notice of the recurring collisions between your personal calendar and your work calendar and then you propose a predictable arrangement to manage them.  

It's the difference between "I need to leave early again" and "here's how Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to work for me this fall, and here's how the work still gets done."

To communicate effectively during this conversation, you’ll need to do two things:

1- Audit the calendar dates. What days will you need to be fully offline vs what days will you need to be meeting free but still available? Map out the specific days and what they will require of you. Sit down with the school calendar and your work calendar side by side and find the actual conflicts: the 1:00p early releases every other Wednesday, the Thanksgiving week late starts, the handful of no-school days that aren't holidays, etc. 

Precision is what separates a professional ask from a favor. You're not slacking, you're managing a conflicting schedule.

2- Communicate the arrangement proactively. Explain the arrangement you're proposing and the fact that the work is covered.

“Hey xx, starting in September, Wednesday’s afternoons will be meeting free but I’ll be available via Slack and email. I’ve also submitted PTO days needed for this fall”

Back to school season can be fun but also overwhelming. I’d challenge you not to apologize for the competing calendars. Simply have a conversation about your schedule and availability ahead of time. 

Your reputation is built in the moments when you communicate clearly and follow through on what was communicated. 

Planning your own fall flexibility conversation and want a second set of eyes on the script before you hit send? Email me at jenna@careercivility.com — I read every one.