Don't worry, there are ways to cope with being stuck indoors, filling in for colleagues, writes KATE HOLMQUIST
YOU’RE STUCK at your desk in front of a computer, looking out at the sunshine and wishing you could enjoy it. And you’re under more pressure than usual, filling in for colleagues who are holiday. We asked experts in workplace dynamics for advice on how to make the most of summer in the office.
Dr Eddie Murphy
Clinical psychologist Peoplecareservices.ie
Keep things in perspective. Even though you may be annoyed about doing work for others while they are away on holiday, tell yourself that it goes two ways and that person may take up slack for you later on. If you feel angry or frustrated, remember that in six months’ time it won’t matter.
Think, Thank God I’m in work, look at how many are unemployed.
Hold a team meeting in a park instead of the conference room. Being outdoors changes perspectives. Summertime is a chance to create more flexible processes.
Summer can be an opportunity to enhance teamwork and creativity, as long as the perception is not that you have to be seen sitting in front of computer screen all day.
Try to practise flexible hours. Really clever organisations are getting more and more responsive to the needs of different workers at different times, because it boosts productivity. Offering flexibility builds loyalty and results in less sick leave, more retention and less recruitment.
Have a day when people bring their children, nieces or nephews, or even pets to work. By doing this you are socialising the office and showing that each worker is a richer tapestry than may seem the case from sitting at a desk all day. If everyone is seen to have someone they care about, that’s an equaliser.
Hold a family barbecue rather than a workers’ barbecue. It doesn’t have to cost a lot.
Exercise in your lunch hour by walking on your own or with colleagues. Walk to the park and meditate. The most effective exercise is built into the day, and lunch hour is the best time, especially for busy working parents who start their second job the minute they get home from work.
Dress appropriately. Moving to casual dress in summer is fine, but showing too much skin is not.
Kate Quinlan
Psychologist, human-resources consultant and associate faculty at NUI Maynooth and Irish Management Institute
Wear bright summery colours while keeping your look professional.
On sunny days, get up earlier and walk some of the way to work.
Be positive. Make a conscious effort to challenge your thinking if you’re starting to feel negative about pressure at work. You can’t change your circumstances, but you can control your thinking.
If the office is getting you down, plan your time outside the office with activities to look forward to: a barbecue, a game of tennis, a picnic with your children.
Eat lunch outside, with colleagues or on your own, and absorb the positive atmosphere on the summer streets. If you haven’t much time, try to spend just five minutes outdoors, enjoying the sunshine.
Seek flexibility from your employer. Ask if you can start work earlier and leave earlier, to give you more time in the evening to enjoy the fine weather and spend time with friends and family outdoors.
If you’re covering for others who are on holiday, practise realistic optimism. In the current economic climate we have all been stretched, so do what’s realistic for today. This will help keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Enjoy your work.
If you work from home, keep all your work in one place in the house rather than scattered everywhere. Close the door on that space when you’re taking a short or long break from work. Don’t check e-mails at the weekends unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Michael Mulally
Galway-based clinical psychologist specialising in workplace bullying
If you’re going on holidays, work out who is covering for you: one person or more? Brief everyone involved. List the issues that might come up while you are away and advise your colleagues on how to deal with them.
If you are covering for someone else as well as doing your own work, don’t take on too much. Inform colleagues well in advance that you have an awful lot on your plate, so that you don’t get swamped.
When doing other people’s jobs while they’re on holiday, don’t expect the same quality of work from yourself as you would in your own area of expertise. Doing the best you can is all that others can expect.
When it’s finally time for you to take your own holidays, leave the work mobile at home.
