Sometimes I have an awkward moment. Like recently, when my colleague CF asked me when I’d be conducting the next round of appraisal interviews. It had been a while, after all. I checked and realised the most recent round had taken place pre-Covid. Whoops. Awkward, and a shame.
Appraisal interviews – they’re called Personal Development Plan interviews these days, but we still use the old term, though I couldn’t tell you why – are not an ordeal at the Observant office. They serve as a moment of reflection and introspection, to put it formally. In other words, we take an hour to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and talk about how the employee is doing. How have they been feeling, what energises them, what drains them, do their work tasks still suit them, do they have the right amount of responsibility? And, last but not least, where do they see themselves in five years and what will it take to get them there?
Workload came up again. As I wrote before, our workloads skyrocket at regular intervals. “We’re struggling to keep up as it is, we often don’t have time to really think things over, but we all keep saying that we should be doing more, even in our plans for the upcoming academic year”, the feedback went. Indeed, our wish list for the next academic year, from August 2023, was as follows: more articles about student life, more about research, more investigative journalism pieces. We hadn’t quite stopped to consider who would be doing all that work. “We’ve been trying for years to make choices – yes to this, no to that – but we always end up doing everything anyway, if we can.” It was a crystal-clear analysis, and it was spot on.
Making choices is not our strong suit. But last Monday, at our last big meeting before summer break, we did it. We looked each other in the eye and decided it’s time to change course (those conversations were a good incentive). Investigative journalism will get priority. As will any news, whether it’s about research, internationalisation, or workplace harassment. With everything else, we’ll just have to choose – yes to this, no to that. We’ll undoubtedly miss out on a few great stories because of it, but that’s all part of the game. Choice means loss.