Adding value from a distance

No-one can make you feel inferior 

without your consent

Eleanor Roosevelt

This is one of my favourite quotes which I've used many times in my blogs, as it serves as a great reminder that ultimately it's ourselves who are in control of our emotions.  We may not think so at times but it really is down to us in terms of choosing to be happy, sad, guilty, angry and I'm sure that many of us are struggling with our emotions right now, myself included.

As we continue in our quest to get to grips with working from home, I've realised that it's all too easy to let your mind wander down the path of negativity and comparison.  When you're physically in work, your boss and colleagues can see what you're doing and how hard you're working.  It's a different matter now that we're all separated and working from home.  I know I'm still working hard and putting the hours in but how do you get that across to your boss and colleagues.  It's hard enough being a PA, or any other support role, at the best of times because a lot of your work is done in the background and under the radar; it's even harder when you're isolated from your boss and work colleagues.

So, what do we need to be doing to show we are still adding value from a distance?  These tips apply to anyone who's now working from home as we all work incredibly hard in a desperate bid to protect our jobs and companies.

• Timing and flexibility - You might be a morning person and use what would have been your commute time to start firing off emails from 6.00 am but appreciate the fact that not everyone else is, so don't get frustrated that no-one is responding until gone 9.00 am.  Likewise, you shouldn't feel guilty about not responding to emails from colleagues at 10.00 pm if they're night owls.  As long as the work is getting done to the same high standard then don't get stressed about timings.
• Go above and beyond - Some people are not in a position to be doing exactly the same role as they were in work.  If this applies to you and you're finding it hard to get motivated and have a sense of purpose, then now is the ideal time to really get stuck into a new project.  For example, can you be researching something that will help other colleagues such as how to get to grips with video conferencing and setting up group chats.  You could write some step-by-step guidelines which I'm sure people would appreciate at this time!
• Be more proactive - Although I always try to look ahead and forward plan in my role, a large part of what I do is very reactive in nature.  Things happen, I sort them out, that's just life in a PA / support role.  I'm now very conscious that I need to even out the balance and be much more proactive and use the opportunity to seek out new challenges.  This  is something that we all need to be doing - rise above, look down and see the bigger picture.  What do you need to be planning for in advance?
• Maintain good working relationships - It's absolutely vital that you keep the personal interactions with your boss and colleagues.  You can do this by ensuring you have daily calls with those people you work most closely with and by keeping in touch with others by simply dropping them an email or message to ask how they are.  A funny and topical meme can also lift the spirits and keep the office banter going I've found!
• Learning and development - I have my moments but overall I'm a very resilient person.  This can make me insensitive to the needs of others on occasion.  A conversation with a colleague the other day made me realise that other people don't always cope as well during times like this.  The conversation made me question why I was usually able to work my way through difficult times.  For me I think it comes down to always wanting to learn, develop myself and be better in order to keep my sense of purpose.  Linking in with the 'Go above and beyond' point above, it's important that you find new ways to do your role or develop yourself to do a different role.  For example, use what was your commute time to learn something new like I did the other day.  I joined a 'Critical Thinking for PA's' webinar at 7.30 am the other morning before starting work - major saddo alert!!  But seriously, please don't sit there feeling no sense of purpose anymore, speak to colleagues and find out what they need help with, speak with your boss and let them know how you're feeling so you can come up with some  new projects together, speak to your HR / L&D department and ask what your options are for development courses.  There are so many amazing webinars and online courses out there right now that are being offered for free so take advantage whilst you can.
• Value yourself - More than anything else, value yourself by switching off at the end of the day.  Now that work is actually in your home, this can be hard to do.  The first thing I used to do when I got home from work (remember those days?) was to get changed from my work clothes to home clothes to help me make the switch.  I still do this and although I don't sit at home in my work dresses, I make sure that I dress in decent clothes, do my hair and make-up and then at the end of the working day I get changed into my hoodie and jogging bottoms.  By doing this, I'm still making the switch from work life to home life.  

As each week passes, we're finding new ways to adapt and change and if you've sadly been furloughed then it's more important than ever to try and maintain some kind of routine.  As hard as it may feel to motivate yourself right now, you have to find ways to take advantage of the situation.  What's the saying?  "When life gives you lemons - make lemonade".  That's exactly what you need to do, make a sh*tload of lemonade and when the time is right again, sell it to make a sh*tload of profit!!

Stay safe and speak to you next week.

#2020