12 Things I've Learned In My First 12 Months In H&S (Nos 5 - 8)

5.      Delegation’s what you need – If you want to be a record breaker the idea of the one man band, ‘Health and Safety Guy’ is a dead duck, redundant, forget that. Can you create web based content up to professional standard? How’s your Photoshop work and design? Is your creative imagination up to date and on trend? Can you come up with a concept and see it through to conclusion to an unmatched quality? Are you objective enough to criticise your own work? You might be able to get away with that on one project but when you start taking on others at the same time and are switching between deadlines and targets you are going to need help. Surround yourself with good people and trust in their skills and the quality of your collective work will shine through.

6.      Space to breathe means space to produce - Nothing kills productivity and morale like being cooped up and squashed in together like battery hens. How many times have you done your best work on the London Underground at quarter past 8 in the morning? Having space for your tools and room for your ideas to grow into is vital in producing quality work that you can believe in. 

7.      Creating lists is easy, scoring things off them is hard - Having never had a to do list longer than - brush teeth - before starting this job, I thought it was going to be a case of striking each entry off one by one, easy as pie, steady as clockwork. It isn’t. When entry number 1 relies on hearing back about entries 2,3 and 4, which themselves rely on Mr and Mrs X, Y and Z seeing all of the legacy material and feeding back before the full moon returns, it is important to keep plugging away and moving forward. If you haven’t received stuff, ask for it again. If you are waiting for things to be sent your way then make sure everything else is ready to go when it arrives. Stay on top and stay productive.

8.      Luuuuuuunch? – Forget breakfast. This is the most important meal of the day. The midday downtime is a breeding ground for excellent ideas. Your inbox is clear from a morning of graft. You’ve scheduled your tweets and sorted the bank. It’s time to get the microwave and the thinking cap on and collaborate! Some ideas will be hilarious, some truly awful, the point is that it is important to get away from the screen and take a step back each day. Make time for light-heartedness and playful interaction. This freedom of thought can only make room for inspiration to strike.

Nos 9 - 12 Comin' atcha' like Cleopatra sooner than you can say...

Until then, take care of yourselves... And each other.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

WABT