It’s the Same Process: Getting Back to Business and Getting Kids Back to School

As summer begins to wind down for many of us our focus has shifted towards getting back to business and getting kids back to school. 

Earlier this month, we shared in our blog how to take stock of your business. Last week we shared tips for reassessing your meeting schedules. 

Now that kids are going back to school, whether physically or virtually, how do you get back to focusing on your business again?

This week, the AVA’s own CMO, Mimi Klosterman, is sharing her best tips for getting back to your business and getting the kids back to school. As a business owner, mother of eight children, and homeschool parent Mimi knows a lot about this topic!

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Even though my kids do school year-round, there is a period of transition like kids going back to school or kids getting out of school for the summer.

I started treating the transition like I do with my business.  My family goes through these steps several times a year depending on what’s going on with our activities and my business. 

Here are some tips that may help you:

1)      Schedule.  Determine what will be happening every day, every week, every month, in general for that quarter or period of time. Remember that you’re in control of the schedule.  Don’t let it control you.

  1. a)       Business – What does your week look like with clients and your own business?  I usually schedule weekly meetings with my clients on Mondays. Tuesdays through Thursdays are focused on my clients’ work and Fridays are my personal days which include volunteer time and working on my own business.
  2. b)     Home – What does your week look like with your family? What sports or extracurricular activities are they involved in?  Who will be driving them there and picking them up? My older kids determine their school schedule, what days they will be cooking the family meal and when they will be getting their chores done.  I also like to schedule time for the older kids to spend time with the younger ones.

 

2)      Current Process.  Review your current process and create new ones if needed.

  1. a)       Business – Good time to review with your clients and/or your team if some of them are having their kids back to school. Any vacations or out-of-office times?
  2. b)     Home – Review current chores list and any other household activity. Do we need to reassign new chores to each kid? Is it time to learn a new chore?  Does it need to be written down with a checklist or detailed procedure?  Will a picture or video demonstrate how to do it?

 

3)      Weekly Check-ins.  Conduct weekly meetings or quick check-ins.

  1. a)       Business – You probably already have weekly meetings or check-ins with your client to discuss priorities and any issues. Maybe you need to reschedule your meeting times on a different day/time.
  2. b)     Home – Have weekly family meetings to discuss upcoming events or activities for the week so everyone knows where they need to be when.  Maybe you have a teen driver that needs to pick up their younger siblings or drive them somewhere. Any special items needed at the store for the week’s meals.

I’ve also used this same process when I was pregnant.  About a month before the baby is due, I re-assess everything and have the family go through their week as if the baby was already here.  If new processes are needed, I would train the kids on how to do that.  This is similar to what you would do to train a new team member.

Treating your family and business is pretty much the same but the only difference is you can fire a client/team member but you can’t fire your family! 

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