Illness + Risk Mitigation

What do you do when you’re unable to attend meetings due to illness? Write blogs, or newsletters, use my mind. Or that’s how I try to handle it.

Earlier this year I came down with COVID at the beginning of a two week sprint for which we had been preparing for over 2 months. Devastated? Yes. Cranky? 100% but pragmatic too. I know our work is important but it’s not critical and my main concern is the disruption to schedules for our clients, my team and suppliers like hotels. Fortunately, the queen organiser, Sarah, is proactive and my home allows me to hide away while I recover.

Like any sudden event, risk mitigation should be the first response, thinking strategically about impact and consequence. This event prompted me to consider a practical set of actions for future reference.

Stop and breathe: What’s critical? It’s tempting to let everyone know what’s happening but are you also throwing accountability monkeys around without checking where and how they will land?
Be transparent: Recognise the value of your time to others and how it will affect them and their work.
Call in the support crew: Who needs to know and give them time to strategise too before you act.
Be proactive: Don’t hide, the worst response is to do nothing and hope it will go away. Open your diary and put together a recovery plan.
Trust the process, and don’t meddle. Your team have your back and will do everything possible to support you. Test your infrastructure, challenge your business and ensure you have everything in place to ensure accountability.

In essence, lead by example and do exactly what you would expect of your team members. By communicating effectively, relying on your accountability frameworks and solid relationships, you will see the long term benefits of building a business which functions autonomously.