How loud is your lawn mower?

This weekend I heard the sound of a lawn mower – a little late for this time of year I thought - but it got me thinking about something that happened a while ago...

I was mowing the lawn one Sunday afternoon which is not a job I relish the prospect of but once I've got the pull start under my belt (started first time, thank you), I can get quite into it and can peacefully pass the time all the way to the satisfying smell of a full grass box.

This time was no different. I was three stripes in, and my mind had wandered to what the French phrase for mowing the lawn is – one of those phrases you are led to believe during a French GCSE will be important in later life but turns out to be of limited utility – a bit like "where is the library?" or "I’ve broken my leg". Happy times.

Reflecting on the peace and contentment of the situation, I looked up to see my daughter stood at the back door, clearly on her fifth or sixth go at shouting to get my attention. It’s hard to know whether I hadn’t heard her over the noise of the lawn mower or if I was just lost in the mow-ment...

It turns out she wanted help tackling some craft based homework – making a dream jar if you must know. Having sorted this I returned to the half-finished lawn. Another pull start (started first time, thank you) I spent the remainder of the lawn reflecting on whether there were other people who were asking for help but couldn’t be heard over the noise of the day-to-day.

Now this blog isn’t really about mowing the lawn...

Can we hear our customers? With all the business of milestones and meetings it’s possible to miss issues that customers want to raise. The first time an issue pops up it can be in a low key way, the theme can be easy to miss. But if we can use these early warnings to head things off before they become problems we are all better off. Ask yourself once a week if you have really heard your customer.

Can we hear colleagues? We all have lots going on. Whether it’s nervousness about a project, a particular task or their next career step, if we listen to each other we can find ways to help. We might even have had experience of going through exactly the same thing. Watch for indicators and find ways to build a culture of mutual support. Go for a (virtual) walk “round the block” with one of your colleagues and see what is on their mind.

Can we hear friends and family? There is always more work to do and at times on key programmes we need to focus on delivery. But we are only the rounded human beings that colleagues like working with and talking to because of the support we get from our friends and family. Spending time with them, balancing work with home life is not only great for our mental well-being but also quite a lot of fun.

Make sure you have room in your life this week to make your equivalent of my daughter’s dream jar.