Why should you “fall” into flexibility?
The end of summer and the return of school means changes for lots of families. In my house, that means that our evenings are now full of activities instead of time with friends in the pool. It also means I am out of the house for a full day twice a week for class instead of working from home all the time. Changes like ours aren’t unique, families across the country (and around the world) are managing change in their lives and although business needs don’t change just because the weather is getting cooler, the changing of the seasons is a great excuse to explore the possibility of embracing greater flexibility.
As an individual:
Embrace the idea that work can happen anywhere and experiment with different places by levering the time “wasted” waiting on your children.
Reclaim your time by thinking strategically about when and where you will be and setting yourself up for success
Communicate your changing needs with your leader before you get burned out and frustrated.
As a leader:
Schedule time to talk with each team member about what is working for them and what they would change if they could
Look for signs of burnout so you can proactively support your team before they give up
Think about the “benefits” you provided in the summer and evaluate if/how you could embrace that culture year-round.
Remember, that flexibility can look like different things on different days. Recently my flexible schedule allowed me to:
Speak to new parents at the middle school as a part of my volunteer fundraising role
Head to Georgia Tech on a day that I wasn’t scheduled to teach so that I could learn about some of the cool research happening across the Institute
Meet a new friend and discuss career development
Have dinner with a friend who got laid off unexpectedly and help her prepare to “Reimagine” her work
…and still meet all my personal (and professional commitments)
What would it look like if you could do all the things that are important to you? and what would you do to have that opportunity?