MY TOP LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WHEN YOUR FLIGHT IS DELAYED

PLAN AHEAD

Before I left Australia, I made sure I had plenty of time for catch-up activity on my return. My calendar was already blocked out for catch up time for one day after my return. So that gave me one day of clearance. And meant no one could book meetings into this time.

I always do this when I know I will be out of the office and unlikely to stay completely up to date with email, follows ups etc. For every day I spend out of the office, I allow at least one hour to catch up on my return. This is pre-booked in my calendar before I leave. So, if I am out of the office for a week, I block out between half and one day on my return, ready to catch up on all the essential things I know will need my attention.

This full day of blocked out time came in very handy this week.

UPDATE DECISIONS

This is a big one. As soon as the information changes, make a new decision. As soon as I knew my travel was delayed, I was already looking at my calendar to move things, manage things, and to reset expectations. Expectations with, for example, my client and my team. I built a lot of buffer into this process because it was very unclear when I was going to leave Singapore.

The message here is to be proactive about decision making, based on the information that you have available. And, when the information changes, you need to update your decisions. Do not get stuck with a decision you have previously made. As new information comes in, refresh your decisions. Continually, proactively manage expectations. 

LOOK AHEAD

When I reviewed my calendar based on my changed travel situation, I didn’t just look at the next day or the next two days when I was moving things around. I reviewed the entire week and into the following week.

This meant I could be proactive about managing deliverables and expectations for both my team and clients, so that when I arrived home, things would be manageable rather than manic.

UPDATE DECISION CRITERIA

As time moved on this week, and I was still no closer to home, I needed to re-evaluate what I would accept in terms of how and when I was going to travel home. With limited travel options, my decision criteria for what would be a reasonable travel solution changed.

Initially, I accepted that I would wait for my original flight to resume after a delay. As the delay progressed, knowing the impact was increasing, my decision criteria changed to ‘any flight’ that would get me home. 

If the criterion for making your decision needs to change, then reassess and review your decision based on your updated criteria. Review decisions based not only on any new information, but also your revised decision criteria. Generating the best decision for right now for the current context you have.

COMMUNICATION

You already know communication is critical in all situations, but particularly when you have a lot of change or moving parts involved. I did my best to let people know what was happening as soon as I did. This included my family, my team, my clients.

People understand when there are things beyond your control but letting them know is critical to forming that understanding. Be conscientious about proactive regular communication to the people who need to know.

LEVERAGE YOUR TEAM

Utilising your team to take over some activities, so you continue to make progress as a whole unit. The caveat is not to put them in a situation where they simply do not know what to do. Here again, communication with regular information flow is key.

Often we can forget to delegate when we are the ones in the stressful situation, and it is easy to try to do everything ourselves. A little bit of delegation in these times, can really ease the pressure, and allow some progress to continue to be made, until you can be back in the lead.

AVOID THE STRESS

A tough one, but important, is to avoid stressing over the things you cannot control. I could not control how quickly the plane was going to be operational. I could not control the airline’s communication. I could not control the rescheduling.

Instead focus on the things where you can have influence or control. Including communication, being proactive about resetting expectations, making and updating decisions, delegating.

For me, I was able to do some work from my hotel room in Singapore, and to provide some guidance for my team during that time. And, the bonus, some time to think.

While I recognise there are no real surprises here, this situation was a really timely reminder for me about what makes the difference when navigating times of uncertainty.

Focus on:

 
I should also note that while it was a very challenging situation because my travel was so delayed, I am also very thankful that the airline pays more attention to safety than simply taking off on time.

Safety first.

I’d love to know your thoughts.