By Amanda Wallin
Yay for November and being home from travel (hopefully for most of you?)!
Coffee Catch Up
Okay, you’re finally back in the office from spending two months on the road. However, now you probably have loads of emails and other projects to catch up on since you’ve been gone. While I do recommend getting busy on those emails and not procrastinating on getting back to business, I also suggest taking a minute to re-connect!
Your friends in your office are excited to have you back and see that you made it through alive! Take this opportunity to grab your work besties and grab a coffee or walk around campus to chat and catch up. Share your funny stories from the road, check in about life and make sure they feel supported now that the team is together again. Since our work is so cyclical time can get away from us rather quickly. I think it’s so crucial to keep our pals in the loop by arranging these quick and easy check ins. It helps to give us some perspective about our work and reminds us that our colleagues really do care.
For those of you who get asked to coffee by one of your friends, even if you have a TON to do- don’t we all?- be a good friend and support system by taking this time to be there for someone. It will be greatly appreciated.
🙂
Home is Where the Heart Is
Usually my suggestions are tailored to being supportive to a certain individual. This time, now that your office should all be back together, my advice would be to broaden your scope. You’re back at your desk, you’re surrounded by your team, and you’ve completed your travel mission. Take a step back and reflect on why you just spent two months away and who made that possible for you to do so. We are fortunate in our positions to have support from our staff and our universities. We aren’t in this alone.
At your next staff meeting take the opportunity to say thank you to all your colleagues, and remind them of how much you appreciate being back in the office with them. This opens the door for your entire staff to express their gratitude and can be a great way to rec-connect as a team. These people are you work family, and beyond just telling them that they do a good job, it feels good to acknowledge that you really value their presence.
Also, since its November, the timing is perfect to share what you’re thankful for with your team!
As always, You Go Girl (Boy)!!!!