Transcription

00:00:06 Introduction

Welcome. You're listening to Links at Bain and Gray, a catalogue of podcasts centred on all things business support in the workplace. Our aim is to bring you interesting and relevant content that will keep you up to date and thriving in your role.

00:00:21 Tray

Welcome, you're listening to Links. Today we are talking about how to keep you up-to-date and thriving in your role. The thriving part is what we’re gonna talk about today - just trying to avoid any too many stresses and strains in the office. And just to keep yourself on top and performing well in your role.

You're listening to Tray Durrant.

00:00:42 Emily

And Emily Bain.

00:00:44 Tray

So I've made a really long heading out of that.

00:00:48 Emily

Haha I know. Are you are you talking about keeping yourself mentally fit and well so that you don't work too hard?

00:00:53 Tray

Yeah, yes, but but how that relates in the role. What hints and tips that you can do just to keep you, I suppose switching off at the end of the day, really is what we're trying to cover, isn't it?

00:01:06 Emily

Mm-hm, this is SO relevant right now.

00:01:07 Tray

Big topic.

00:01:06 Emily

A massive topic. I um, it's funny, you know, Bain and Gray is 15 years old this year and back in the day, setting up a business, startup culture, I would work around the clock. Wouldn't think anything about it, would put my son to bed, get back on the laptop. And certainly nowadays, I'm much more mindful about work time and actually we tried to encourage that within the business that I now try not to send any emails in the evening or over the weekend to to, to actually sort of bother anyone that works at Bain and Gry out of those hours.

You know, I feel and I try not to work out of those hours now. That would be my first number one tip - stay within the office hours.

00:01:54 Tray

It's interesting, there's a very large organisation I know, has at the bottom of its emails “we have sent this e-mail at the time that suits me, but it we don't expect you to respond until it's a time that suits you”, which I think is great for sort of pushing it out there.

00:02:06 Emily

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. I think even Outlook now. You know Outlook has an option when you're writing an e-mail on a Sunday, it’ll actually say “would you like to send this?” and you know and I think that's brilliant.

00:02:18 Tray

Yeah.

00:02:19 Emily

I think little things like that that don't disrupt your personal life because you know we live by our phones, don't we? Your pings, and notifications and I would say put them down, forget about them.

00:02:31 Tray

It's tricky, isn't it? Because this whole, since the pandemic, dare I say the P word, you know, this whole hybrid flexible working has made all of work life a bit more fluid because some of that's at home, some of that's on the move. Some of it might be, you know, working from a different location when and therefore it it sort of encroaches a bit more.

00:02:50 Emily

So you have to be really strict. You have to put down these boundaries. I actually think that the young the younger generations are coming up now are better at managing this than perhaps our generation. I think certainly they know that when they leave the office or the the the end of the day that they will put their work mobile to one side. And I really respect that. Actually I think it's really not blurring those lines, but like you say, during the pandemic just got out of control.

00:03:21 Tray

Yeah, and still do with some of the roles that we, you know we see today I think with with things being hybrid working and and flexible working.

00:03:28 Emily

What about in the office then? How how would you let's say, how would you manage that?

00:03:33 Tray

Well I think one of the biggest challenges is diary management, I think, this is where I think AI has got a real part to play, because I think there's some brilliant little software platforms to for booking in diaries that will mean that you're scheduling something with the five people that need to be in a meeting. You wait until five, those five people are free whereas I think lots of people just book in meetings.

00:03:54 Emily

Hm, that would be me.

00:03:33 Tray

Haha, I wasn't specifically saying you Emily! But I think generally it's it's a thing and it's a challenge because then you can spend a good chunk of time on wasted effort, really that could be done more effectively. Sorting out your diary and what you're doing and and what's going on, which of course you know this is where tech is great and you know, AI has a has a real part to play.

00:04:16 Emily

Well, maybe I need a PA.

00:04:18 Tray

You need a Virtual Assistant maybe.

00:04:20 Emily

Maybe yes, but yes, I managing your diary accordingly so that you're not sort of what, back to back?

00:04:26 Tray

And being respectful of others.

00:04:27 Emily

Others, yes.

00:04:28 Tray

And it's one thing to manage your own. But I think it's being respectful of others, you know, time and diaries and and and and things like that, that that can help and to help that sort of feeling of in an office environment of not feeling, you know, pressured on if if meetings are coming left, right and centre.

00:04:28 Emily

Mhm, mhm.

00:04:43 Tray

And and allowing breathing space. But that's one thing I think individuals can take on and many years ago I was told, you know, to book out “white space” in your diary, which I don't always practise.

But the theory behind it is you book out slots where you just need some thinking time between meetings. You need to collect your thoughts because no one's as productive as they could or should be if they go straight from one meeting, straight to the next because you need to recalibrate your head’s at and what your topics you're discussing and.

00:05:08 Emily

I'm gonna sort of almost sort of change what I said earlier and this is sort of putting you, I know you're an early bird, so you probably get your downtime or your “white space” from between 7:30 and 9:00 because it's a quieter environment where you're not perhaps in meetings.

00:05:24 Tray

Well, actually that's not really my white space and that's my productive time.

00:05:27 Emily

Ah, OK yeah.

00:05:27 Tray

Because I'm doing, there's no there's no interruption. So I will get on with anything I need to write anything I need to plan or think through. That's that. Whereas, you know, my “white space” time is for me more general thinking comes at the end of the day when I wouldn't be as productive doing, you know, a big piece of written work or something.

00:05:43 Emily

Yeah. MHM.

00:05:44 Tray

And I can just think more abstractly about kind of what needs to be done just sort of at headline level.

00:05:50 Emily

It's funny, isn't it? I think it really depends on what kind of how you operate, because I feel a bit more creative later in the day than sort of early morning.

And how about sort of seeing signs of people that are feeling a little bit stretched and not feeling that you can see if they're not on top of their game. I think one of the most important things to me, it's so obvious. But for some people this is an action list.

00:06:14 Tray

Mm. But again, it's if if that's what works for that person. I think being mindful of different people operate in different ways. You know, I'm I'm very fond of sort of booking in my to do in my diary. You know, if I've, you know typically I'll book it in for an early morning, three or five things I've got to get done that day and I booked them in as my first sort of diary meeting just for myself to make sure they're done, because I know if they're the essential items, pretty much, even if anything else slips that day, I've done what I needed to do.

00:06:45 Emily

You've done that. Yes.

00:06:48 Tray

Yes, because things always slip for for us all. And so you know that that's how my brain works. That helps me and it and it means I'm a bit more productive and especially when they're they're projects that might impact a sequence of others or other people involved, and they might slow down a bigger project. That's definitely what I'll get done, sort of first.

00:07:06 Emily

Course yes.

00:07:08 Tray

Because it takes any stress off, you know, for anything coming further down the line.

00:07:10 Emily

Yeah. Mm.

00:07:14 Tray

So I think there's, I think there's one thing is I'm going to refer to good old American psychologist, Maslow, who Emily will know. I mentioned a lot in our office, but I think there's a a whole holistic sort of piece I mean there are slight slight variations on on on those 5 levels of of that pyramid, if anyone is familiar with Maslow, if you're not, please go and look up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

It's interesting because I I I'm a real believer in, no one can be productive and therefore is more at risk is possibly too strong a word, but is more susceptible to feeling stress and strain in the workplace, if things aren't sort of followed in terms of that hierarchy and that hierarchy at the at the base layer, base level is all about feeling sort of that everything is working, that things are comfortable, that you know on some diagrams you'll see it refers to shelter and home and everything working and then building to relationships.

And if you've got that level of comfort in your, my interpretation of that is if you got that level of comfort in your home space, then you're more likely to feel safe and productive at work, if anything isn't going wrong, and I really see this time and again, with, you know people I've managed over the years, if things if the wheels come off a little bit, it's sometimes not just what's going on in the office is something that's going on outside and it's really you know, good to be mindful of of of that.

00:08:28 Emily

Absolutely. Mm, and I think actually you can, almost like you say, spot employees who perhaps have something externally that's not perhaps going so well for them, which means that they can't come into the office or work with a sort of calm, healthy mindset. And I think you can actually spot that, can't you? So.

00:08:54 Tray

Yep, yeah. And I think you know, and if you're responsible for managing anyone, it's really important to to to try and make it your business to spot that so that you can sort of nip things in the bud and help people out because they're not going to be focused on the task in hand so.

00:09:09 Emily

No, we could, we could go down rabbit holes on this on mental health. Mindfulness, just general health checks.

00:09:16 Tray

General wellbeing, yeah.

00:09:17 Emily

And I think it's a massive topic that we can focus on another time. But I think those little nuggets are quite a quite good piece of advice to help people, sort of day-to-day.

00:09:29 Tray

Yep, yeah. So manage your time well, get to know yourself and get to know how you best work and and sort of try and work to it as best you can in the environment you’re in.

00:09:35 Emily

Thanks, Tray.

00:09:36 Tray

Thanks, Emily.