SICK REPORTING

this way your boss won't get angry

Fate has it that from the moment I scheduled this topic, both Liesbeth (who has never been sick during her Amayzine era) and I were hard hit by fever and trouble. You always see it coming. You can't do much about getting sick itself, but you can control how you inform your boss and colleagues.

1. Mondays remain tricky

I used to have a wild partying colleague who was always sick on Mondays and never told me, but used his direct colleague as a messenger. That's not a good idea. Know that Monday is a favorite sick day. On any other workday, an average of 5000 people are sick, but on Monday, that number rises to 9000.

So know that you have the odds against you if you are sick on Monday and ‘people’ quickly think they are the victims of your overly full party weekend. If you are truly sick on Monday, it is wise to inform your supervisor on Saturday or Sunday about your illness. Say that you are laid low by fever, hope to be completely recovered by Monday, but that he/she knows you are not wildly partying. Then you are already 2-0 ahead.

2. Call

Sending a text or a WhatsApp message is a bit too easy; I actually think that if you are sick, you should have the, excuse me, guts to call your boss. It's just a bit less lazy than tap-tap-tap-and-send, and moreover, he/she can immediately hear how awful you sound and you can discuss what needs to be taken over by someone while you are not there.

3. Don't send a colleague as a messenger

I understand that it is easier to ask your colleague to report you sick, but that's not how it works. If you do that, you show little respect to your supervisor and it comes across as if you are always choosing the easiest route. Not good self-promotion.

4. Think of solutions

You really lie a lot more peacefully in your bed if you think about what needs to be done and how it can be solved. Some things can perhaps wait until you return, other things you can delegate to a colleague, or maybe you can hire a freelancer to do the work. If you send a detailed email to all involved with a sketch of ongoing matters and your solutions, you score points.

5. Be reachable

Of course, as a sick person, you should be left alone as much as possible. But a message should be doable, right? Say that you might be sleeping occasionally, so may not respond immediately, but that you will get back to them if you can. Your colleagues really won't disturb you for trivial matters, but they already have extra work on their plate because you are sick, so the least you can do is be available for them.

6. The return

I mentioned it earlier; keep it short. You were sick, you felt absolutely terrible, you make a few jokes about how inhumane you felt, but spare everyone the unflattering details that inevitably come with illness and move on. working.