Parenting in the Time of COVID-19 (While Leading a Startup)
By: Sarah Hodges
Tags: Startup, Parenting Advice, Leadership Coaching, VC

A friend who has two kids under the age of 4 and a newborn baby texted me this week.

“I just don’t know how all these moms do it with the crafts and the home-cooked meals and the daily schedule. I’m just trying to resist pouring myself a glass of wine everyday before 10 am.”

Those perfect moms are Instagram moms. They’re not real humans. They’re getting paid to look like they woke up with a spatula in one hand and a color-coded calendar in the other. Everyone else is just trying to keep it together through the transition to working from home…while providing childcare…and maybe homeschooling…and maybe managing a shower somewhere in between.

Photo: Amber Sparks (Amber Noelle)

We’re all figuring out the new normal together. It’s an emotional strain on everyone, but it’s particularly tough for parents of young kids. Everyone is looking for guidance. As CEO, you have an opportunity to set the tone for your company, finding ways to support parents who are struggling through this change.

I reached out to the source of all truth — Twitter — to find out how different companies are rising to the challenge to support Parenting in the Time of COVID-19. You can read the thread here.

Swami Kumaresan, President & COO of Ionic.io, captured the general consensus, sharing that we all need to set realistic expectations for ourselves and each other right now. Yes, you’re going to be less productive while you’re balancing work and kids at home. Yes, you might have a hard time focusing or delivering at your highest output while you’re processing this moment of tremendous transition. That’s ok. Take the pressure off.

Sharing a few of my favorite tips below:

“Agree [that ‘be human’] is pretty much best advice. Also, we asked individuals to proactively communicate and set appropriate (and healthy) expectations. Asked managers and teams to factor those expectations into their plans.” (Adam Medros — CEO, edX Online)

“We have created groups for parents as well as tried to do some fun things for the kids like virtual story hours. And just embrace it! Be kind, flexible & understanding-no one is working in ideal situations. I have three kids at home and my video calls are full of interruptions.” (Allison Macleod — EVP, Flywire)

“One really simple thing to do is create a ‘homeschool’ slack channel and share all insights, links, and resources. Insanely simple and useful.” (Richard Banfield — VP of Design Transformation, InVision)

“We’ve always been remote, so had a good degree of flexibility. Trying to stretch that to the limit and additionally planning to offer low-friction switching to part time schedules (i.e. 3/4 days a week) if needed.The ‘work early and again late at night’ has worked for the first couple weeks, but won’t be sustainable for our teammates in the long term.” (Marshall Moutenot — GM, Upstream Tech at Natel Energy)

Christopher O’Donnell, Chief Product Officer at HubSpot, also chimed in on the thread with a shout out to Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at the company. The People Operations team jumped into action with a plan for parents, providing a Q&A with a parenting coach on parenting in uncertain times, daily programming for kids 0–4 years and 4–8 years on zoom, and weekly music concerts for families of all ages.

For a mental break, Britni Linford, a Graphic Designer at Pluralsight, and her colleagues created this company coloring book for kiddos and adults alike. Quick, simple, and soothing.

Every company will take a different approach, and has unique resources available to support parents through this time of change. What’s most important is that you take the lead to set the tone for how your company will meet parents where they are to make it work.

If you’re a parent, don’t beat yourself up for giving your kids pasta every day. And if you’re not a parent, remind your parent friends that they’re all doing just fine.

Have a tip to share with other companies about how to support parents right now? Would love to hear from you.