By the way | Eking out the holiday glow

I was lucky to have two weeks away from the office in sunnier climes last month. The accommodation was wi-fi enabled, meaning that I was able to briefly review emails on a daily basis at a time of my choosing without incurring vast data roaming charges on my Blackberry. Most messages required no action as they were utterly non-urgent and would be sufficiently dealt with by means of the clever out of office tool, which offers an alternative contact name should anyone require it.

I did however forward a set of new instructions which had come in and required immediate acknowledgment. I sent them on to my out of office contact and received the immediate response that I should put the Blackberry down and head back to the bar. It was far too tempting an invitation, and I am ashamed to admit that I responded by return with a photograph of the glass of rosé wine which I was holding at the time positioned in front of the sunshine-drenched swimming pool. To put this into its very cruel context, the person with whom I was exchanging emails is a very proud (but extremely tired) new father and I was well aware that the weather in Manchester at the time consisted of drizzle with the temperature struggling to reach 11 degrees. His reply was a very measured "That's not nice," which was rather kinder than I believe I deserved.

Modern communication

In any event, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and my recently expanded local team of professional indemnity colleagues, I returned to the office secure in the knowledge that not one of my files had metamorphosed into a three headed monster during my absence. There was also a complete lack of hard copy post on my desk, with the only items waiting for me being three copies of Solicitors Journal, wrapped in that familiar plastic. Everything else had either already been dealt with and filed neatly away or had been received by email only, as is becoming increasingly common these days.

That reminds me of a recent telephone call which I made to an insured solicitor client, only to be told that the partner to whom I needed to speak was engaged in a post opening meeting. It is a phrase which I have heard previously, but not for about ten years. I recall one former client firm having such quaint meetings where the partners would start the day most cordially, sharing a pot of tea and opening the post together, with the idea of course being that each of them would then be aware of any issues arising on work throughout the firm.

Of course as many firms have now grown to well beyond the size at which this would be practical, the exercise has been scaled down to a departmental level, with the most senior member of my team still taking time to open and distribute hard copy post each morning. Its purpose remains the same - for example an employee would be unable to hide a case which was turning somewhat pear-shaped.

However this simply cannot apply to emails, as partners would spend all of their day having to look up from their own work in order to review the constant bombardment of messages which land in their team's inboxes during the working day, in addition to their own. Modern day communication means that there needs to be a significant degree of trust between team leaders and staff, on the basis that any issues arising on files need to be drawn to the attention of those in charge, and not flown underneath an electronic radar in the hope that they may disappear. The fact is that they won't.

Holiday high

My first week back from holiday was not too stressful. We returned to a weekend of beautiful weather at home, meaning that all the post-holiday clothes washing and drying had already been actioned so I sailed into work with a clear conscience, a beaming smile and a slightly altered skin colour on the Monday morning (my standard skintone being almost transparent).

People asked on my first afternoon back at the desk whether I already felt as though I'd never been away, but I managed to eke out the holiday-induced glow for most of that first week. One day was spent in London where I caught up with an established contact over coffee and also went out for lunch with a client whom I have not previously met. I really did not need any more food after two weeks of enjoying Sicilian pasta, pizza and prosecco but I bravely took on a fantastic steak restaurant in Covent Garden and emerged victorious, having consumed a fabulous fillet together with a range of shared side orders and with the feeling of having successfully maintained/established client relationships.

The firm is participating in a legal panel review process for a very large potential client at the moment, which invitation resulted from my continuing contact with a former colleague from many years back who recently took the in-house leap. It is the first such process in which I have been personally involved and I am finding the continually looping emails and requests for high-tech video linked meetings educational, if rather time consuming.

It is also an excellent working example of the advantages of preserving one's contacts, as you never do know where they will turn up next.