We are approaching the summer holidays, a time when – for those of us still at our desks – workloads increase and responsibilities can soar. Here is some expert advice on how to survive and thrive when you’re the one left behind.
Know exactly what is expected
It can be stressful “when you don’t really know what’s expected of you,” says Ruth Cornish, who runs the consultancy Amelore and is a co-founder of HR Independents, the UK body for independent human resources professionals. “You’re having a go, but you’ve had no guidance or information.”
If you are covering for colleagues, there should be a written handover before they go away, which could include anything from important projects to work on, specific client emails to look out for, and if and how you can contact them while they are on holiday. “That’s different for everybody,” says Cornish. “Ask: is there anything that could come up that you want me to contact you about, and how do you want me to contact you?”
Ideally, you have a work culture where a holiday means a total break from the inbox – especially at the moment, when annual leave may be spent at home – but Cornish acknowledges many people can’t resist checking.
Accept how you feel
You may be feeling envious or unmotivated if everyone else seems to be having a nice time off – and resentful at having to cover some of their work. “It’s OK to feel what you feel,” says Rona Steinberg, a leadership and public speaking coach who runs Out Loud Coaching. “Especially at the moment, as we slightly emerge from this horrible time, our emotions may be even more difficult to deal with.” Reframe the situation. “It’s quite good to try out another way of thinking. For example, you might say: ‘This is an opportunity to do something different; maybe I’ll step up and take some more responsibility.’ Or: ‘This is actually the perfect time to be working, because it’s quieter.’”
Be realistic
If you’re doing your job, and taking on elements of someone else’s, “you can’t do both,” says Cornish. “You’re going to be prioritising between the two. So be realistic, and decide how many hours you’re going to work. If you are going to work extra hours, are you going to get paid for that? What you see is people just working double hours to try to cover everything.”
Judge what to let go
If you’re inexperienced, pin down specifics in your handover. “Never assume anything,” says Cornish. “With prioritisation, it’s about: what’s nice to do, what’s urgent, what’s important?” It depends on your industry and company, but generally things such as working on securing new business would be considered a priority; answering endless emails can usually wait. “Sometimes people might say: ‘I want you to keep an eye on my inbox.’ I think that’s something you’ve got to manage and say: ‘Right, I’ll spend an hour on that a day and I’ll skim it.’ What’s absolutely critical? What can wait until the person comes back?”
Be your own boss
You may be covering for your boss, in which case, says Cornish, “you have to almost formally agree what you can and can’t do. Are you actually your boss in his or her absence? Do you have any authority?” It may be a daunting prospect, and Steinberg says it’s normal to feel out of your depth, but that doesn’t signify that you’re not up to it. “It’s about telling yourself: ‘I will do a good enough job.’ You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not.” She says it’s fine, if a tricky situation comes up, “to say to the person on the other side, ‘I’m just filling in for my boss right now, so forgive me if I’m not fully up to speed’, and to be able to say that confidently.” Unless you have the kind of awful manager who actively wants to see you fail, “your boss will be confident that you are able to handle it”.
Enjoy a different environment
“The atmosphere definitely changes when the boss is away,” says Vincent, who works for a facility management company. “Everyone feels like they can just get on with their jobs, people are a bit more sociable with each other and we all seem to know more about what’s happening.” He and his colleagues do get their work done when their manager is away, but will sometimes play video games once they have finished, he says, which is “a brilliant way to have some time bonding, and makes the work environment better”. For many people, especially those with young families, there aren’t the opportunities to go out after work, “so having a little bit of time during the day really does lighten the mood. I feel like the work is more productive, and things get done faster.”
Try a different way of working
Sometimes, a manager’s absence can shake up a routine and expose pointless exercises. In his previous job in advertising sales, Rod McMillan had to endure three meetings a day where they would compare figures. “The meetings would either be fine if you were on target or bad if the pressure was on. They generally increased stress and took up time,” he says. “It was a running joke that when this manager was on holiday for two weeks, sales would go up.” Less stressed salespeople were better at their jobs, but “it could also be a case of time-management”. He calculates that eschewing three meetings for a team of 10, over the course of their manager’s two-week holiday, added up to “an extra 150 hours’ selling time”.
Take the opportunity to shine
With new responsibilities, it can be a good time “to showcase what you’re capable of,” says Sarah Archer, a career coach and founder of CareerTree Coaching. “You could become more visible if there’s fewer people around, including to senior management. Capitalise on that. If you’re in an office, this could include things like giving reports, keeping them up to date. If you’re working from home, just dropping them a line and letting them know things are OK can be good,” she says.
People can have anxiety about contact with authority figures. “It’s useful to remember they’re human, and they might be under stress,” she says, particularly if lots of people are off at the same time. “So you keeping them up-to-date is a real positive for them. Put yourself in their position. If you were that senior manager, what would you want from the people who are working around you at that time?”
Get to know new people
Working in a different department, or taking on different work “is a chance to get to know people at work that maybe you haven’t had the chance to [get to know] before,” says Archer. She suggests arranging a lunch with less familiar colleagues.
And get to know yourself
“We have all sorts of messages that we tell ourselves, such as: ‘I’m a person who thrives in the company of others,’” says Steinberg. “We can become over-attached to this view of ourselves.” If you are worried about feeling lonely or isolated at work, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks, “this could be a perfect opportunity for you to try something else,” Steinberg suggests. “Maybe you’ll discover you actually don’t need to be constantly surrounded by people to be creative or resourceful. We can say: ‘This week, I’m going to try being more assertive’, or: ‘Maybe this is a time to practise being more out-there in meetings, because my boss isn’t here and sometimes my boss shuts me down a bit.’”
Bounce ideas off your network
For some people, it can be harder to come up with good ideas without others to try them out on. “Look for people in your network, who are your creative, inspiring people,” says Archer. They might be former colleagues, or a mentor. “Ask to bounce ideas around, as long as it’s not confidential stuff that’s commercially sensitive.” If you don’t have that kind of network, make this an opportunity to start building one. A coach could be helpful; find one through directories such as welldoing.org.
Be the fun one
There can be a camaraderie in being the ones left holding it all together at work. “Maybe there’s an opportunity to organise a social,” says Archer. “Something to make it a bit more fun for people who aren’t on holiday. It can be good for your career if you’re the person who’s instigating that kind of social activity – it helps you become more visible and be seen as a positive influence in the office.” In her previous workplace, Lisa, a graphic designer, and her colleagues would play football in the office when their boss was away. “We were in a building with lots of other companies, so there were lots of corridors,” she says. “For some reason we had a beach ball and we ended up in the corridor, sitting on chairs, kicking the ball from one end to the other. It was just really silly.” This was mainly because they had got their work done more efficiently. “We were actually more productive sometimes when he wasn’t around. As long as we got our work done, we would say ‘we’re finishing early’ or muck about.”
Track your achievements
Keep a written record somewhere. “This is what I’ve managed to cover during the time, this is what I’ve learned, this is what I think I could take on,” says Archer. Use it the next time you ask for a pay rise or go for a promotion. “It’s good to have evidence rather than just thinking: ‘What did I do six months ago, when everybody was away?’” In the shorter term, have another handover or debrief when the person you’re covering is back, says Cornish. “It’s a great chance to learn about someone else’s work, and it’s a great development opportunity.”
Don’t be put off by mishaps
If there is a crisis on your watch, or you make some judgments that don’t turn out well, don’t take it as a sign that you couldn’t cope with a different type of job or a more senior position. “Let go of the word ‘fail’, it’s all just experience,” says Steinberg. “Accept you’ve been placed in this difficult position and you’re doing your best. And actually, is it really a failure, or is it a learning experience?” Cornish says you shouldn’t view something that goes wrong as necessarily being your fault. “There will have been a reason for it,” she says. Maybe the handover wasn’t thorough enough, or the job was way beyond your level of experience, or what happened was unexpected. “It’s good to get to the bottom of that because what you don’t want to do is think: ‘I failed’.”
Avoid overwhelm
With a decent handover and an understanding workplace, you shouldn’t be struggling under a gargantuan workload, but even in a perfect scenario, it can be tiring and stressful to adapt to new responsibilities or projects. “Pace yourself, take regular breaks,” says Cornish. Annoyingly, it is probably the case that, just as you’re getting comfortable with it, your colleague comes back. Then it’s time to think about going for that promotion, armed with all your new experience – or at least booking a holiday.
