Reflection - Please be kind; we cannot rewind!
[This reflection is from April Ebacher, Team Lead & Supervisor for Application Infrastructure Services, DoIT at Univerisity of Wisconsin - Madison. She is a current participant in the BTAA MOR Leaders Program. April may be reached at [email protected].]
Hello, Friends!
Hope you and yours are all doing well and healthy!
I’ve struggled over the last few days to think about what seemed valuable to reflect upon. (There are soooo many things!) Even though we’re all going through this pandemic together, each of us have and/or are having very different experiences, and those experiences are shaping how we respond to all things that are rapidly evolving, sometimes on a daily basis.
Over the last few weeks, a lot of us have had to adapt the way we work, collaborate and communicate with our teams and coworkers. For my team, this shift was “logistically” simple. Our department had already been working on what it would look like to have individuals on our teams be 100% remote, as well as encouraging employee work from home days.
We had documented the different technologies we’d use and for what purposes. We had fall back procedures in case those technologies failed. We even had team charters defining who was on what team, what their goals were and any artifacts necessary to accomplish the work. All of that said, we definitely were not prepared for the mental, emotional and physical toll this transition has had on each individual.
Over the last few weeks I’ve had many conversations, both personal and professional, where the common question has been: “When do you think things will go back to normal?”
Yesterday was a beautiful day in Madison, Wisconsin; 60-ish and sunny. As I sat on my back porch, planting seeds for my garden and watching my 2-year old son playing in his sandbox, I contemplated that question intensely. My son doesn’t know what is going on, nor does he know what “normal” used to be. All he knows is certain routines have changed, we get to spend more time together and we use technology to hang out with other family members; this is his new normal. Perhaps a silver lining in all of this is understanding what is truly important versus what is immediate. For me, staying healthy and helping my family, friends, team members and community through difficult times is what is truly important.
I suspect over the next few weeks/months we will all adapt our behaviors, habits and routines to come to a new normal, and in fact, we likely have already started to adapt. There will be things that, at some time, will go back to normal and there are some things we will glean out of this experience that will adapt our processes and procedures into a new normal. So to answer the question: When will things go back to normal? They won’t. As leaders we need to help others find and adapt habits and routines to provide a sense of normalcy, a healthy and productive environment and a new way of providing the products and services we all offer to our campuses, families, friends and communities. For a different take on the old VHS tapes from video stores: Please be kind. We cannot rewind!
We are all very fortuitous to be a part of this program, especially now. I’d encourage us all to revisit all the topics and lessons we’ve worked through this past year to help us help others around us who might be struggling. As a reminder, in order to provide the best, we need to be our best selves; stay healthy and take time for yourself!
April