Hi everyone!
It’s been a while since my last update, and wow, has a lot happened! If you read my last post in the fall, you know I was headed out on maternity leave. My son Finn was born in November and I am happy to report that we are all doing great. It’s hard to believe he’s already eight months old. He’s a sweetheart and a ton of fun, even though he’s getting into everything these days, and he just discovered that yelling can be an effective way of getting a parent’s attention!
I came back to work in the middle of March and had a couple of weeks of relative normalcy (even though I wasn’t traveling) and then everything shut down due to COVID-19. I quickly realized I couldn’t work and take care of a baby at the same time. Thankfully, McKinsey has provided a lot of support during this time—including childcare options—and I was able to find alternative arrangements to help me get through the workdays.
In addition to the benefits and resources provided by the firm—family sick leave, medical benefits, backup childcare—I have been overwhelmed by the support and understanding of my teams. My capacity and schedule have changed a lot since the pre-baby, pre-COVID days—and now daycare has reopened with shortened hours—but they’ve all made it work. For instance, I run a lot of capability building workshops on Zoom, and despite people being in different time zones around the world, it has never been an issue to wait to start until at least 9am so that Brian and I can bring Finn to daycare.
There are definitely some challenges to working remotely, but there are some great benefits as well. I got to see Finn roll over and also pull himself up to standing for the first time. As a knowledge expert, I’m not always a day-to-day member of teams, and I’ve found that the virtual working environment has helped me feel more included on all of the teams with which I work. All of that being said, I still do miss the in-person connections and look forward to being back in the office at some point! At the same time, this pandemic certainly should not be taken lightly, and watching the news and hearing from friends and colleagues how it has affected many of us, I appreciate every day, the efforts that the firm takes to keep us safe during this time.
I hope all of you readers have stayed healthy over the past several months. l’ll be back with another update soon.
Britta