Embrace change - you never know where it leads...

I was recently asked by a colleague how I spent that topsy-turvy “lock-down” time where we all baked far too many banana breads, drank too much gin, went for endless walks and endured the joys of homeschooling the kids while trying to work.?And 2 years on, it got me reminiscing.

While some suffered unimaginable scenarios where we lost loved ones, missed our friends and family and couldn’t celebrate significant milestones, or suffered job and economic insecurity, I had the opportunity to play an albeit small part in how our country responded to the unprecedented threat that COVID-19 posed to Aotearoa.?

To set the scene, during the first phase of the pandemic in 2020, my team and I navigated Campbell+Co through this time of business uncertainty; and while it was gruelling, we survived.?

Then in the second half of 2021, Auckland endured what would become a four-month lockdown brought on by the arrival of the COVID-19 Delta variant threatening our health system. Borders were closed, but the Government was running a managed isolation program to allow some people to enter NZ through a quota system.?

In October, a contact reached out about a role to support the COVID Response Team who were managing the health response in the MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) system. The role was working in a team known as NMF - or Northern Managed Facilities, as part of the Northern Regions response to COVID-19.?

Personally, I was burned out and needed a new challenge. My team was smashing the day to day mahi at Campbell+Co, so as someone who thrives on pressure, despite not having had any previous experience in the Health sector, I said YES; the catalyst for a challenging, at times stressful, but ultimately extremely rewarding chapter in my career.?

I arrived on day one to an office building in a very quiet Auckland city and saw a team running at 100 miles an hour, operating under constant change and in an extremely high pressure environment. The energy felt much like a startup.?

The team needed support to tidy up and create new systems and processes. As a communications professional, I am a generalist. I could see the big picture (hello, gap analysis) and work out where the problems were in a system that was developed very much ‘on the fly’ - a necessary response to the sudden need for us to manage the isolation and testing of thousands of people coming into the country. Establishing key work streams early on was key, and working out what changes would have the biggest positive impact.

After a whirlwind four months, I finished working on this project in February 2022. Looking back and reflecting, I initially wondered what I was ultimately going to bring to the table as a project manager.?And I've landed on this: Comms people are true generalists and through years of switching projects and clients, have the ability to work across a range of sectors and switch headspace quickly. We’re also good at digging in quickly to find where the issues lie and define the problem.

With health staff focussed on delivering different pieces of the puzzle, I could see we needed to create links between them. I also ended up playing the role of a sounding board. I saw tears and other signs of stress and burnout in people who were ultimately there to do more than just a job. Senior health care workers are used to high pressure, but this was next level. They literally didn’t have time to stop and think about what wasn’t working, so I did a lot of listening.?

So, what did I ultimately take out of this gig??

Apart from the benefits of being exposed to and working in a different sector and of course huge personal growth, the experience highlighted the importance of seeing the big picture, and distilling a lot of information down into tangible actions. It was also very rewarding working with passionate people who are solely focused on helping the people they look after - they genuinely wanted to look after and care for people. Seeing how much people wanted to help other people was humbling.?

Even as my agency work ramped back up as clients looked to invest and scale up their activities ‘post-COVID’, I haven’t shaken off the health sector yet! My initial project led to more contracting, supporting both the COVID response and the recent major weather events across North Island.??

If you're a comms professional and get any opportunity to work in an area you know nothing about, my advice would be to take it. Learn fast and listen more. Not only will it drive personal growth, you’ll quickly see the value you can add.