I'll tell you how my work is going. I'm not fully out, but am out to my boss and HR. The way I did it was as soon as I started wearing earrings I started to think about it a lot, started seeing people treat me differently. This got me to schedule a checking an HR visit. There I told her what was going on. HR did great, nothing but positive respect and being their for me. A couple weeks later I did the same with my boss and asked HR to come in after 5-10 minutes just in case things went poorly. My boss knew I was going through something and was fine with it all. Since these meetings both my boss and HR use my preferred name in communications to me. When I'm out to everyone else my preferred name will be run through the system. Once I get a legal name change then accounting will get the memo so my taxes are done correctly. My boss and HR have helped me plan a timeline for coming out to everyone, plus what if scenarios like what if people ask privately, or should we notify upper mgmt and project leads early. I'm saying yes, but I'm relying on them to make sure this remains positive and to keep company policy in line. Honestly it's been easier than I thought. At least at this 150,000 plus person company, they know how to handle a tiny issue like me:)
Bari Jo