How to speak to your Manager about Menopause

When suffering with menopausal symptoms, it can often feel daunting to speak to your manager or team leader about menopause and the symptoms you are experiencing.

We’ve put together 4 tips to help you:

 1.     Write it down

Writing down your symptoms, feelings, and thoughts can help you clear your mind. Keeping a symptom journal, including how symptoms affect you at work can help your line manager to implement reasonable adjustments and other solutions.

2.     Book a meeting

By booking in a meeting with your manager, it ensures you have dedicated time and space to discuss how you are feeling. If you can, book a private meeting room to limit distractions from others around you.

3.     Set an action plan

Agree on a plan of action going forward - this may include immediate solutions, or possible solutions depending on what your organisation offers. Ask about the reasonable adjustments your organisations can offer, and anything else they might be able to help you with.

4.  Keep checking in

It's worth planning regular check-in meetings with your manager to keep them in the loop with how you are feeling. This can help to track if the help your organisation has put into place is helping, or if things need adjusting to better help you.

Ultimately, at Talking Menopause we believe that educating managers is one of the best ways organisations can support menopause at work, as it enables them to understand how to most appropriately support their menopausal team members and colleagues. Remember, your manager is highly likely to know of someone going through the menopause.

For manager specific menopause education sessions, please contact our team.