Working parents (particularly women) are one such group, and a number of Best of Both Worlds listeners have found the resources and networking provided by such groups to be helpful. In this week’s episode of Best of Both Worlds, I interview two ERG experts: Sarah Johal of the Parents in Tech Alliance, and Lori Mihalich-Levin of the Working Parent Group Network and Mindful Return. Both offer advice for those who might be interested in leading, participating in, or even starting such groups in their workplaces. ERGs can be done well or less well, and can be more or less effective, so there are lots of practical tips for those looking to land on the “effective” side of the ledger.

In the Q&A we talk about a hot topic for this time of year: school lunch bags and containers. Please give the episode a listen!

Certainly, there’s nothing magical about happy hours. In many cases, companies and industries are far too reliant on them, because they’re so easy. Stick people in a bar and voila! You’ve created a social occasion. More creative ideas would include having people meet for lunch, for coffee, for breakfasts, or (my personal favorite) the networking play date. Seriously. If you’ve got colleagues or contacts whose kids are the same age, have them over to play on a weekend!

But Rosman’s article raised a few issues that come up again and again in discussions of how to combine a Big Career with going full-in on the parenting front as well:

* Think long and hard about building a long commute into your life. Yes, you’ll have more room in the ‘burbs, and your money will go farther. On the other hand, if you quit your job because you can’t stomach the commute, or you don’t pursue advancement because sometimes you’ll have to stay late, you won’t come out ahead. I do understand that these days, many people have had to change jobs and can’t sell their houses, or two spouses have had to take jobs far from each other. But it is something to think about in the long term.

* Think in terms of 168 hours, not 24. Your kids do not need to see you every evening. They should see you most evenings, but the situation Rosman described was creating real inefficiencies. She didn’t do the networking she needed to do to advance her career, but she was still only getting a few minutes with her kids before bedtime. Perhaps it would work better to choose two nights to socialize and get home after the kids went to bed. Then another night or two a week she could consciously try to take an earlier train (Fridays are good for that). Or keep the kids up a little later. An extra 15 minutes means more time for stories.

If you have a family, do you ever go to networking happy hours?