{"id":1590,"date":"2018-06-21T18:14:40","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T18:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/?p=1590"},"modified":"2018-06-21T18:17:39","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T18:17:39","slug":"on-a-tangent-on-leading-a-virtual-team-going-on-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/?p=1590","title":{"rendered":"On a tangent to leading a virtual team… going on holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog is mostly about the work I do, and things I find interesting. But, as a Learning Technologist in a leadership role, I think a lot a lot about work\/life balance even if I don’t share much about my life away from work on this platform. The current series of posts<\/a> written jointly with Martin Hawksey in which we take an open approach to leading a virtual team has prompted me to reflect on how important it is to be aware of a how less formal, home-based work environment can affect one’s well being. As I have holidays coming up, I wanted to share my approach to taking a break. In an environment where many talk about their work ethic, on being indispensable or never having weekends or evenings off, it’s important to also talk about taking time away from work, taking a break.<\/p>\n

So, here is what works for me when I want to get away:<\/p>\n

Lists<\/strong>: a list of things to do before I go away, a list of things to handover\/cover, a list of urgent things for when I get back, a list of long term things for when I get back, a list of things to check… ticking things off my lists and having somewhere to note all the things I won’t get done, is essential.<\/p>\n

Ruthless inbox clearing<\/strong>: delete, delegate, deal with… always nice to see how a firm deadline focuses the mind and suddenly everything that has been languishing in my inbox for a while is gone. I also make an effort to send much fewer messages in the week before I go away, to get fewer responses back.<\/p>\n

Make sure everything is covered<\/strong>: as a Line Manager and in a role where things have to be covered whilst I am away, I am fortunate to have colleagues who will deputise or cover for me. I put my arrangements in place well in advance and remind everyone that I’ll be away, to help them plan ahead, too. It’s a good opportunity for me to model what a handover looks like and how to plan ahead around urgent deadlines.<\/p>\n

Keep for everything that I’ve forgotten<\/strong>: I am a big fan of Google Keep and use it for managing my to do lists. In the first few days whilst I am on holiday I’ll remember lots of things that I have forgotten and so I make a special list to which I can add everything that comes to mind. If I write it down, I won’t worry about it and it’ll be waiting for me when I get back.<\/p>\n

Really actually go on holiday<\/strong>: if I intend to have proper time off, I don’t monitor email at all. I set my out of office and that is it.<\/p>\n

Interesting reading<\/strong>: one of my main priorities when I don’t have to work is to catch up on lots of reading. That may be work-related research at times, and having that to look forward to is a big motivation for me.<\/p>\n

I look forward to having a break from my usual routine, time to go for a run when I’m usually at my desk, time to spend with family and friends, time to stay up late… time enough to feel more curious, keen and inspired again when I head back to work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog is mostly about the work I do, and things I find interesting. But, as a Learning Technologist in a leadership role, I think a lot a lot about work\/life balance even if I don’t share much about my life away from work on this platform. The current series of posts written jointly with Martin Hawksey in which we take an open approach to leading a virtual team has prompted me to reflect on…<\/p>\n

Read moreOn a tangent to leading a virtual team… going on holiday<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-1590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","tag-altc","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/OnHoliday-e1529605053686.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7wa4N-pE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1590"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1596,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions\/1596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marendeepwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}