Re: when on bench, what do you do?

Hi TW

Bench time is annoying when you are used to the fast-paced nature of consulting. It's also frustrating when you are benched as the client no longer has budget but there is heaps of work you could still be doing for them

I tried being a consultant once and was benched for 2 months. Kept getting a heap of false starts on new client work that fell through. The problem with being on the bench is you don't know how long you are there. I made the mistake of not enrolling in activities or classes thinking it'd be a waste of money as I'd only attend 1 or 2 before having to cancel. Well that was a mistake in hindsight

With the company I was at, we had quite a few people benched that there wasn't enough office space for us to come in. We got told to stay home. Now this sounds fantatstic for the first few days. But then you get worried that you'll be getting a HR calling telling you you're redundant and no more job for you.

So you want to first try to create value for your company

1. Offer your services to Senior Management to assist in client tenders and bids. It's a way to network, get noticed for promotion and expand you skills as well as the stakeholder engagement levels
2. Clean up - do the cull and clean up of papers and your kit bag of tools. Go through and cull outdated material
3. Training - hit Learning Hub, demo systems, internal company training - anything you can get your hands on
4. Extend training and set a certification exam date that you work towards
5. Business Development - if you are a solo in your area, start building templates and material to increase your company's IP. Think back to all those times on client sites when you wish you had a document template for X or a load tool for Y
6. Advertise yourself - let your company know who you are and keen to get onto a new project

On the personal front, most consultancies recognise that consultants don't work an 8 hour day when they are billable. You'll do a full day for the client and then you have all the company specific activities to do (telcos, HR work, internal training, business development). You'll also work a heap of extra hours on the client (especially if you are on a fixed priced client work and your company's deliverables are slipping). As a result, when you are on the bench there is this unwritten rule that you are entitled to some down time and recovery

So if you have done your professional development, the personal stuff to consider:

1. Focus on your fitness - get your strength and general fitness back. Many of us drop fitness when work gets busy.
2. Diet - take the time to learn to prepare healthier meals and remove a few inches of your waistline if you found yourself living on chips and gravy for lunch most days (I'm guilty)
3. Sleep - it's catch up time if you've come of a busy client. But not too much sleep
4. Establish a routine - you need to fill your days in so you don't feel unproductive
5. Get a hobby or develop it further
6. Get out and see people - be it work collegues or friends. Get networking and keep communications open
7. Make an effort with your family - your partner or kids or whoever. Take the kids to school or help out more. Make up for any time away from the family
8. Plan a holiday somewhere and get some proper downtime

There the sort of stuff I tell myself what I'll do next time after having a miserable two months of lying on the couch watching cable tv and eating junk food. A case of hindsight thinking how much I could have achieved in that time frame!!

P.s. - if you want this thread in Careers Center then alert moderator and ask for it be moved. I'll allow it over there

Cheers

Colleen