tomorrow a number of employees will return to their office after holiday vacations. i suspect that a high percentage of these people will answer to their bosses, colleagues, etc. with updates something to the effect of, “i’ll be catching up on things since i’ve been out.”i hate hearing things like that. when i hear people gives those types of updates all i hear them saying is:
- i didn’t plan very well before leaving for vacation.
- i haven’t spent any time staying in touch with what’s been going on while out.
- i don’t have a clue what going on so i’ll just make it sound like i have a lot of work to do.
- i’m not sure what i’m supposed to be doing now that i'm back.
when returning from vacation i expect people to have a clear list of action items to deal with. vacation time is one’s opportunity to get away from it all so when they return they can hit the ground running with a plan. the vacation breaks up the monotony of everyday work & allows one to come back with some focus & purpose.
as i participate on my morning call with our CEO i hope & expect to hear clear-cut action items from my colleagues & no “catching up” type of statements.
4 comments:
so I came to check via your status on FB...wow Brian....I guess the blog is for you to get out your feelings and I can respect that but I totally disagree that saying you are gonna "catch up" on things (in my case, have two weeks off) lends itself to laziness or being out of touch. There is only so much work one can do with their labtop and so yes, tomorrow I will be catching up...i love ya dude...but glad I don't have to go to work and answer to you tomorrow?!?!? :)
@Colleen Renee what little bit i know about you & your work ethic i suspect that your "catching up" is much different than i describe. you've always proven to be a person that knows what needs to be done & how to get those things done.
generalize what i'm suggesting in my post & listen to how people talk today in the office. you'll quickly realize who has a plan & who doesn't.
happy to report that no one on my morning call with our CEO used the words "catching up." we are such a well run organization :)
I felt like I was "catching up" today, but your definition might be different. I did take some time during my vacation to plan ahead for my Monday morning meeting.
I met with the developer I left in charge of a project while I was out so he could bring me up to speed on their progress.
Handled a back log of email, phone calls, and questions that were awaiting my return.
Maybe getting back up to speed would be a better way of saying it.
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