[2021-09-20] The greatest team
Today was a special day. I had lunch with my former staff. Past and present employees of the Assistant Deputy Minister's Office (ADMO) of Health Canada's communications branch came out to celebrate my upcoming retirement. We met on a patio bathed in sunlight, punctuated by an occasional breeze. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
I was honoured that so many of my former staff, along with my successor, took the time to drive from their home offices to a restaurant close to our old workplace. It was wonderful to meet them again in person. Seeing the faces of people who had worked in ADMO when I started there five years ago reminded me of the television show This Is Your Life. In that program, the host took the guest for a walk down memory lane, introducing various colleagues, friends and family from the guest's past. It was equally lovely to see employees who were there from the beginning or who had joined ADMO during my time with the department, or even after, and who are still there today.
I was asked whether I missed signing documents. I did not, I replied. Nor did I miss the pressure of the job, I added. I missed only the people.
We reminisced about our work together—initiatives that had backfired despite the best of intentions ("Jack and Jill") or projects that had come back around like heartburn after a spicy meal (infographics)—but mostly we talked about our lives. What our children were doing. How are gardens did this summer. What streaming service we were watching.
One of the benefits of our working from home because of the pandemic is that we have been given a view into the lives of our colleagues. We might learn that a coworker has a cat when we see a tail swishing on videoconference. Or we might come to know a colleague's precocious child when they invade their parent's home office. Or we might discover that a teammate's spouse does most of the cooking (my staff always knew when "Mr. Hollington" was working in the kitchen because my workspace was in the dining room next to the kitchen).
We have always been pet owners and parents and spouses, but now it's often easier for our colleagues to see all the roles we play. I believe that being able to bring our whole selves to our work contributes to a more empathic workplace. We can more readily walk a mile in the shoes of our coworkers when we know more about them.
Fortunately, those of us who worked in ADMO knew a lot about each other. Perhaps that came from working long hours, into the evenings and on weekends. We had no choice but to choose work-life integration since work-life balance seemed out of reach.
I was blessed to have been surrounded by such a caring, dedicated and talented team. I would have not succeeded without them.
