I remember one summer when the company I was working for decided to implement a rolling furlough for all employees. My memory of the specifics is a little fuzzy, but essentially you had to take a week of unpaid time off during a period of 3 months. You got to choose the week and the best part was that since you weren’t being paid, no one was allowed to contact you and you were not allowed to check email, etc..
If you were needing to contact someone on furlough for an extreme emergency, you had to go to the Vice President of your organization for permission. No one wanted to do that, so they just figured out how to move forward themselves. While we as a leadership team were most concerned about the adverse reaction we would get about the financial impact it had on people, we weren’t prepared for the appreciation received from people who hadn’t disconnected from work in years. The general consensus was that they loved the freedom it gave them to not feel obligated to work at all.
We are so used to being accessible and connected that even when we have an opportunity to disconnect it’s uncomfortable.We convince ourselves that no one else can do the work we do or if something goes wrong it will reflect poorly on us. Yet, people cite being “always on” as a reason they are dissatisfied with work. But who is responsible for ensuring we disconnect – us or our employer? It’s probably a bit of both at the end of the day, but here is what I can tell you…first, as long as you keep answering the phone or responding to urgent emails, people will keep expecting you to do so and they will keep asking for pieces of your time and mind space. Second, you can’t keep other people from contacting you. The only thing you can control is how you respond. And how you respond doesn’t just affect you. Your entire team is watching, seeking guidance for expected behavior through your actions.
So what do you do? Take some time to intentionally think about it.
- What culture do you want to create for your team?
- How will you model that culture during your own vacations?
- How will you model that behavior when members of the team take vacation?
- What obstacles do you predict when implementing these strategies? How will you overcome any obstacles?
Don’t wait for someone else to give you permission. You can decide ahead of time to create opportunities for others to get pushed beyond their comfort zone by having to think for themselves and not ask questions. At the same time, you can be fully present with your family, friends and self by fully engaging in your vacation. Need help putting boundaries around your work? I can help. Schedule a consultation here.