| I hope you are enjoying summer. This past year has been challenging on so many levels and I hope you are taking time off to rest and rejuvenate. I’ve noticed that many of you have delayed vacations because of COVID, opting not to travel or see extended family. That’s understandable, and I’ve been in the same boat. But hopefully now you’re feeling more able to get out and about, and see people. And, even if you opt to stay closer to home, remember you still need to take time off from work to rest. So please plan some special time for yourself and use that vacation time that you have accrued! You may also find that it takes a little longer before you feel relaxed on a vacation. Or that a longer break is needed before you start feeling refreshed. That’s understandable too. This has been an especially stressful time, so it takes longer to recuperate. If you feel like you’re not your old self, and that things have not returned to “normal” for you, you’re not alone in that. Be kind and generous with yourself. Give yourself extra time to rest and reset given all we’ve been through. At the organizational level, be aware of your pace. What do you have planned over the next two to three months specifically? Is it realistic and does it account for the time off that folks need? What is essential? Where might you be acting out of unnecessary urgency? Make sure that organizational schedules and plans are not preventing staff from taking the time off that they really need. Prioritize staff well-being and the long view. Supporting your staff and promoting a healthy organizational culture is more important than ever. TREC has prepared a helpful toolkit for you: Staff Management Essentials. This is a collection of ten resources to help build staff management and supervision skills and practices. We’ve included specific tools and advice about feedback, delegation, and decision-making. In times of stress, especially prolonged stress like we’ve had, supervisory skills and systems are especially essential. I hope you’ll check out the toolkit and put it to use in your organization. TREC continues to grow and evolve and we have some exciting staff changes to announce. We have welcomed a new staffer, Juliette Lee. She joins the team as a Senior Associate. She’ll be working closely with TREC’s Organizational Development team to provide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training and consulting services. Juliette previously worked in social justice organizing and grantmaking. Also, she is a poet and previously taught college creative writing. You can read Juliette’s bio on our website. With the addition of Juliette to our team, Kellie Richardson is able to turn her focus to TREC’s leadership trainings, coaching, and organizing the BIPOC convening. If you are interested in the virtual BIPOC convening, please contact her at Kellie@trec.org. Lastly, Don Elder is wrapping up his time with TREC at the end of this month. Don started at TREC ten years ago. He has provided helpful advice to so many clients in so many areas – strategic planning, fundraising, management, boards, collaborations – to name a few. We thank Don for his wise guidance and kind, thoughtful and supportive demeanor. He will be missed and we are so happy for him that he’ll have more time for fishing. Please join me in taking some time off this summer. You deserve it. Be well, Megan Megan Seibel TREC Executive Director |
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