Noise, mess, things left behind. Coping with decorating and how that applies to job changes – as explored by Michelle Parry-Slater
Despite having lived in the house for four years, we had not ‘made it our own’. I often end up doing that ridiculous thing of not decorating until we decide to move, thus preparing the house to sell for someone else to enjoy the spoils of our labour. Am I alone in this? Do you put up with a previous occupant’s wallpaper and curtains whilst taking ages to decide what you want for yourself?
Or are you a move-in decorate on day one kinda person? Personally, I like to mull it over, and having owned several houses over the years I have noticed it takes the passing of several seasons before I know what colours suit the sun and shade of each room. I like to live in the rooms to know how we use them. I could never move in, decorate and furnish fully at the beginning. However, what often ends up happening is we get our house just like we like it, and then we move. Selling and moving house is not something to be undertaken lightly. It is a hugely disruptive process which takes place over many months.
Engage the professionals
Having done nothing to my current house for years, I was trying to break my regular habit of decorating for someone else, even though we were not planning to move (at the time – Michelle has since decided to move to Australia! -Ed). So I booked a professional decorator to come in. Call it self-care, or exuberance, but for a change, I thought it would be nice to live in a home which wasn’t dominated by the pink walls of a former owner and for me not live with my DIY job. Thus I entered running a business in the chaos of decorating disruption.
Working through the sanding, drilling, scraping, filling, power going off, wet paint (and keeping two fluffy dogs separated from that wet paint) was an interesting few months. Rooms needed to be emptied, temporary beds needed to be set up, and finding stuff became quite the Tetris puzzle.
As ever with most building works, there were delays and unexpected bumps in the road. There was A LOT of coffee to make and several packets of biscuits to provide. It was without a doubt disruptive and loud, and yet hugely satisfying as the new rooms were birthed from the process.
Holding onto that end goal of a newly refurbished home helped me to remain calm and chilled about the process, which would not go on forever. It helped that our decorator was a really nice guy and I enjoyed his company. We worked well together as he was happy to stop sanding and drilling during my online meetings, and I was happy to make lots of drinks for him. The disruption was worth the pain. Our house is now our home.
What is leftover?
When we move jobs we inherit the work of the former incumbent. We never quite know if are we walking into a role where the incumbent was loved and appreciated, or the opposite. We have to navigate the wake of their leaving without knowing how fond people were of their work. Do we charge in and redecorate those pink walls straight away, or do we keep things as they are and build on that? Is everyone glad to see the back of the work of the previous person, or are we going to be treading on eggshells as we navigate our new role?
How do you navigate moving roles? Do you ask for information about the person you are replacing? Or do you draw a line under them and just be you? The disruption for you may be minimal as you are new in, however for others they may be mourning the loss of a cherished colleague as they move to the competitor company. If you pile in and start changing things, you may engender a resentment you know nothing about. I like to take my time to get to know people.
Getting up to speed, quickly!
Yet as a freelance consultant and interim colleague I parachute into organisations and I quickly need to settle any potential disruption to become productive. I don’t know what people think of consultants. I don’t know if my style is to their taste. I don’t know if I am welcome or not. I need to remain calm and chilled about the process. My job is to quickly engage, build trust, understand my new colleagues and work together. I do that much like I decorate new homes – mindfully. I watch the light and the shade, I prepare for the bumps in the road, I have a lot of coffee and chats. I don’t assume I know what will work in that new space. I observe, I listen, I learn.
To be successful in the face of disruption, I focus on the end goal – that newly decorated home, or behaviour change following a learning programme. I look for the opportunities which come from end goals. I am authentic and hold my integrity highly. This all enables me to hold hands with those my work disrupts with respect and candour.
We walk through the disruption together. How do you deal with disruption? What is your guiding light in times of change? Nobody ever truly knows what is around the corner. We can plan for it as best we can, but the ability to be happy to pivot, change direction, and look for opportunities are my guiding lights. In all things change is a constant so getting comfortable with the disruption is part of all our stories.
You may, therefore, not be surprised to hear, by a twist of fate things have changed and our house is now on the market.
Michelle Parry-Slater, is director of Kairos Modern Learning and author The Learning and Development Handbook
