Always learning! Continually upskilling for growth

The COVID-19 propelled Remote Work into the spotlight as many companies and individuals were forced to work from home. Suddenly my skills and expertise were more in demand. Read about how I find balance through prioritising learning and my continual quest for knowledge.

The period between March to June of this year was extra intense,

I was suddenly busier than ever work wise and this was combined with personal stress during the Spanish lockdown restrictions. I wrote about endeavour to “embrace the chaos” and wrote about how I coped day-to-day. Many days I kept it simple and prioritise survival! Getting through the day and prioritising my self-care, which for me involves time away from the screen - which I find fundamental to my self-care needs.

Other times, I wanted to validate my knowledge, get various perspectives on my views, my methods of delivery and check in with peers in my community. Luckily, (like myself!) many of the remote work community had volunteered time to run various free sessions to support the wider global community who were thrown into work from home. Courses popped up in my Linkedin feed and in the Slack communities I am a member of.

I registered for as many as possible and in hindsight now, I can see how not only they provided me with a valuable switch-off from my work, they also gave me a reference point for what peers were doing in terms of delivery in the same space but most importantly, they reminded me what it was like to be a participant again! Sitting back in the attendee role for an online session is something I recommend trainers and teachers do at least once a month, to remind them of their audience and their individual needs.

See below for a summary of my training activities so far this year. Read more about my background in my bio.

Training and development so far in 2020:

2020: ReesMcCann Licensed Trainer. Online with Judy Rees (exceptional online events, meetings, collaboration and facilitation)

2020: Various training sessions with leading Remote Work experts and facilitators including: Julian Stodd, Lisette Sutherland, Richard Kasperowski, Mark Kilby, Pilar Orti & Mike Clargo