I am constantly inspired by the dedication and resilience of the Equality Now team. We tackle some of the most challenging issues facing women and girls around the world. Our work is emotionally taxing, constantly shifting and strategic litigation cases can often span years. It requires unwavering commitment and resilience, from a team that operates pretty much completely remotely, often thousands of miles apart. It’s hard work, but it’s not just what we do, it’s who we are.
With such demanding and passion driven work comes the inevitable question: how do we find balance when work is an expression of who we are at our core? How do we ensure that our team members can thrive in their roles without sacrificing their well-being?
At Equality Now, we’ve been grappling with this quandary. We know that simply adding more staff or reducing our workload aren’t the only solutions. We need to create a tapestry of approaches to create an environment where our team members can excel, grow, and be joyful in their work.
We recently piloted a “quiet week” – a week where we only attend urgent, timebound meetings, minimize internal meetings, and allow our team members to focus on themselves, their personal development, and catching up on work that often gets relegated to the back burner. The results were promising: many team members reported a productivity boost, and appreciated the time to reflect and recharge.
But we also learned that one size doesn’t fit all. The effectiveness of the quiet week varied depending on team dynamics and external deadlines. Some teams couldn’t fully utilize the time, and we realized that we need to adapt our approach to better accommodate different needs.
It’s my view that as leaders, the key to our role is to remove barriers and create an environment where our team members can apply their expertise and be happy doing it. I’ll be exploring more ways to achieve this balance in the coming year, from creating best in class policies, challenging the ideas of being “permanently connected”, creating more opportunities for our remote team to build stronger relationships, examining workloads and creating more opportunities for growth.
I’d love to hear the experiences of others who are doing the same. Get in touch!
Want to learn more about the importance of legal equality for women and girls? Listen now to Equality Now’s new podcast, We Change the Rules, hosted by award-winning journalist Samira Ahmed on Apple and Spotify.