The full length version of the lead article from Tipoffs, June 2008. If you want to subscribe to Tipoffs, click here:
Everybody enjoys lists. OK, maybe not everybody. But for the most part, listing is effective, stimulating and an easy manner to accumulate and evaluate ideas. And when they come in a written format, I have often found myself unable to wait for the number one reason – I wanted to get straight to debating whether the choices were rubbish or spot on.
The listing concept was once merely the domain of a single American late night television show host, David Letterman. Now, the popularity of listing is such that it’s devolved to the point that it’s now my turn – of all people – to present one for the masses. Thank your lucky stars that I have help on this one – the Arras People Recruitment Staff was nice enough to pitch in with some suggestions about how to make the most of your holiday – whether heading out the door, standing the sunshine, or stepping off the dreaded return flight home.
In keeping with this month’s theme concerning the holiday season, the list is inspired by the Work-Life balance conundrums that holidays throw at you. For instance, there exists a notion today that people cannot completely devolve from their job and unwind when holiday time rolls around. This troubling notion has been around for years, crossing oceans and cultures long before my American roots did, and eating away at the deadline-based workers and managers that thrive on the everyday grind and production, then find themselves looking back fondly in their so-called ‘golden years’, retired but restless.
We want you to know that you CAN leave it all behind and cease with the ill-at-ease persona while soaking in some rays. And while you’re at it, you may be able find that in the build-up to that special time of the year, the skills that helped you earn this opportunity can be just as useful as ever, even if you have no desire to use them while sipping a cool drink by the hotel pool.
Now comes the actual list part. What follows below are simply a few Arras People suggestions for solid use of the downtime. In all, we’ve listed six ways for project management professionals to make effective use of their holiday time. In parentheses are notes on specific articles within this edition of Tipoffs, our attempt at greater fodder for those looking to make the most of those special off days we all covet so much.
Top Six Ways for Project Management professionals to make effective use of their Holiday:
- Getting someone to cover on holiday – You might be surprised at what this can lead to. The idea is that the project will survive without you – but it can be a sort of game to picking the one to be You, 2.0. For instance, ask the project sponsor to replace you as PM. Maybe they’ll gain a new appreciation for what exactly it is you need to do your job.
- The Busman’s Holiday – Trying to leave the job behind – The concept? Simple. Take a regular bus driver, put him or her on vacation, but watch them slowly morph into a backseat driver as his mode of transport is the very bus he was leaving behind. Same with project management – will you see a project undertaken en route to your destination, and morph into the tried-and-true, ‘Here’s how I would do it’ mould.
- Telling your team in detail about the holiday – This is all about delegating the responsibilities for the time you’re going to be away. Planning and/or scheduling is the emphasis here: Setting up meetings, finding out who is capable and who is culpable, involving sponsors and/or clients in the understanding of responsibility delegation, and setting comfortable parameters for people to operate within. While those people you put in charge may shine in a new way, what happens after you’ve given them enough rope to hang themselves?
- Turning off Work, Turning on Memories – Everyone can point to this moment: they saw the person on the beach with a phone to their ear, engaged in conversation that could only be described as ‘work’. It all comes back to the famed saying: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Avoid the phone call to the office during your holiday, and it will illustrate just how well you’ve planned ahead. Then, when you need to pick up the work mobile again, you’ll not only feel refreshed, but also successful.
- Being communicative: Combining responsibility and authority to involve everybody – Somebody else on your team may want to be a PM some day. This can be their opportunity: Keeping everyone involved during preparation for your time away from the project is the best way to build confidence in your team’s key players. Of course, you have to set boundaries.
- Time to reflect and re-assess priorities – Holiday time is down time, after all. With all of the run-around, non-stop pressure and demands of the job, the holiday you are on may be the best time to take stock and realise why you do it, who you’re doing it for, and what good may be waiting around the corner because of your effort and time.
Dan Strayer is the Managing Editor of Tipoffs and a Marketing & Research Officer for Arras People.
