#StayProductive - Phase II

Stay Productive has now entered a new phase.

• Phase I was: "How are we adapting to staying productive in this new situation?"

• Phase II is: "Facing our challenges together"

So many things are going really well. For example, Gwilym, Richard and Jonathan shared plenty of positive firm-wide insights in our first staff virtual meeting. We are staying productive.

But we also all face challenges. We'll be wrestling with them in our overlapping work and home lives for a while longer. How can we face our challenges together?
 

Phase II - Facing our challenges together

The aim of Phase II is to build understanding of our different situations and how they impact our new ways of working.  Why is that important?

1. We want to encourage and help one another; we value building relationships and respecting others.

2. We want that great feeling of satisfaction at the end of a productive week. 

3. We want K&S to succeed as a business.

We got some insight into our challenges in the poll I ran a few weeks back. Claudia Festen has already shared a super article on StayHub relaying how she's facing the challenges of childcare and distractions. More to come from others around the firm.

Let me encourage you to engage with these stories. Even the ones you don't relate to. As we hear about each other's experiences, let's ask ourselves the questions: 

• "What can I do to be kind to this person and others in their situation?"

• "How can I help them stay productive?"

Kindness is not just for Mental Health Awareness Week.
 

A personal reflection

In that vein, let me share with you an article I read a while back. I like how it honestly embraces the raw frustration and exhaustion of working with small kids around. I really like how it still sounds a positive and hopeful note and shows the immense value of kindness from colleagues.

4 ways you can support your working-parent colleagues through COVID-19
Brian R. | 2 Apr 2020
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-ways-you-can-support-your-working-parent-colleagues-brian-rich/

A team is not measured by its strength when everything is great. A team is measured by its response in times of extreme uncertainty. Does it fragment and fail? Or does it circle the wagons and stand strong in the face of adversity?"

We've already had some fantastic tips from Rebecca if you're looking for advice on mini coworkers. They're super helpful (the tips; not necessarily the mini coworkers...). Some days/weeks I feel like I'm nailing it with my home-team. I am so thankful for them. But other days/weeks it all seems to be falling apart. So let me close with a big shout-out to all of you who are helping me face the challenge of caring for kids amidst the pressures of a particularly busy work period:

• Angela Hobson

• Nick Bassil

• Kristina Cornish

• Sarah Lau

• Alison Care

• Oliver Lam

You've all shown me kindness. So have others. It really means a lot. Thank you.