I know the first thing to spring to my mind when I hear the date “21st June”. It involves a sunny beer garden, being surrounded by friends and family watching England win the Euros. Whilst we are all looking forward to the normality of life returning, the pandemic has provided us with a unique opportunity to gain more from both our work and social lives which we should take advantage of as trainees.
Here are just some of the things that we can look forward to partaking in now that the lockdown has ended:-
1. Combined Office and Home Working
Home working has provided us with an opportunity to re-evaluate how we prioritise our lives. The serenity of those relative lie ins, the comfy clothes, food on demand and energy to undertake our hobbies make working from home an attractive proposition. However, for all the positives of home working, we as trainees are losing out by not being in and around the social hub of the office. While Zoom is an adequate substitute, nothing will replace being with your supervisor, asking questions, receiving qualitative feedback and listening and learning how fee earners operate and work. Maximising our time in the office is therefore crucial to our development and as we are limited to 6 months in each seat, we should do all we can to get the adequate experience. That is not to say that we should be in the office five days a week. Balancing your office/home working will be a likely requirement from now on so if you know that you would be better served undertaking your daily work at home, do so. Making the best use of our time is a valuable skill to a solicitor and should be applied here.
2. Teams
The ease with which firms were able to transfer to remote working has proven that firms and offices no longer need to be regionally distinguished. This can also apply to trainees who are able to work in teams which may have been out of reach due to the location of the offices and/or the personal circumstances of the trainee. Although trainees would not get the full experience if they are unable to attend the office, this will provide trainees with further access to different areas of law while also providing the firm with the option of moving trainees based upon demands of the firm. You could also come up with a solution by attending the office once a month or arranging to meet your team at other times.
3. Events
Now is the time to start planning events! We have been unable to experience the companionship and enjoyment that comes with being a trainee, so take every opportunity that comes your way. Arrange to meet with your fellow trainees for activities or drinks even if it is at a weekend. Arrange events for your team which can be beneficial to business development. We will never find people as more likely to get involved as we will now, so take advantage. After a year of being locked indoors, I for one will be making considerable effort to join in with every event possible.
4. Use the lessons learned
We are all by now quite astute at working by ourselves due to the restrictions of working from home. While in the office it may have been easier to pop your head around your desk and ask a simple question of your supervisor or colleague, we have now had to adapt to figuring things out for ourselves, using our investigatory skills to find answers. This is an essential skill of a lawyer and one which we should try to continue to apply when we return to the office.
5. Explore
As someone who has moved to a new part of the country, I have not yet been able to explore my new home as nearly as much as I’d like to. This might be your first time away from home and it is important that you put yourself out there in these new places. Look into joining extracurricular clubs, invite friends and family down to visit and explore the many things that these new places have to offer. You could potentially be there for 2 years so make the most of it!
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