FlexAtThreads x Commit To The Switch (Off)
“I’m actually off today, but I can help with that!”
“OMG I'm so sorry i didn’t realise you were off, don’t worry about it!”
Does this sound familiar?
Here is our throwdown
We challenge everyone to switch off when they’re not working, and we’ve created some icons for our messaging accounts to help with that.
Why we’re doing this
We have been hearing from so many of you recently on the topic of switching off when you’re on a day off. Being contacted by a colleague by accident when you’re taking some much needed chill time happens to us all, and we often feel compelled to respond because we know the other person didn’t realise we were out and it feels a bit rubbish sending them to someone else for help (and we’re just that nice :))
Mentally switching off is particularly tough right now, with most of our waking (and sometimes sleeping) time spent in one space. We want to set a challenge for everyone for the next quarter to give a little self care, and “commit to the switch”. It can be very easy to keep on working when there seems to be little else to do, but it’s not a sustainable approach, and we really care about you.
To help you do this, we’ve created icons you can use on WhatsApp and Slack to help your teammates know when you’re available. We’ve put them all in a handy google drive here.
“Out of Office”
One to show you’re currently unavailable and won’t respond to messages. You can be on vacation, staycation or on a day off. BYEEE
“Out but on-call”
One to show you’re off but are available for emergencies, use the red fire engine wisely! Your manager must approve you using this as we want everyone to be completely switched off and recharging whenever possible!
“On-call”
You are officially on call (it’s only legit if approved by your manager), people should contact you for that bank transfer, or product question STAT
What you need to do to be involved
- Download the icons to your phones or desk top. File here & attached to this email
- Book some leave | Get some leave in the diaries!! It’s a marathon, not a sprint and you’re all CRUSHING it at the moment. Take a beat, take a breath. Bridgeton binge day and herbal tea anyone? Or maybe you’re more of a cyberpunk marathon type. Whatever your flavour, you do you and SWITCH-IT-OFF
- Upload your icon |We challenge everyone to “commit to the switch” whenever you’re on a day off, change your status and put your avatar on Gmail, WhatsApp or Slack with the corresponding message. Put your phone in to ‘do not disturb’ mode (unless you’re taking escalations!) Wondering how to do this? Speak to your manager to arrange proper cover for your workload and make sure you’ve set up an out of office on your emails with who to contact. Reach out to people support if you would like some help!
- Set your Auto Reply | Set up your out of office using this template and how to guide
- Respect the icon! | Be the community member we all wish we were and respect your fellow team members time out.
- Feedback is a gift | How was it for you? We’ll ask you to do a quick 2 minute poll at the end of each month for Q2 to see if you found it valuable, and any feedback for improvements
