Jim is heading out for a much-needed weeklong vacation in a climate much better than ours. The usual thought is that when the cat’s away, the mice will play. Obviously, whoever coined this phrase did not know Velsoft! After talking to many people around the office I compiled a list of things Velsoftians are NOT going to do while Jim is on vacation:

  • Arrive late. Even though that extra half hour of sleep is wonderful – it’s more important to stay productive.
  • Take two-hour lunch breaks.
  • Leave early — even though people usually stay late and have probably built up the time.
  • Complete one key thing on their to-do list that they can tell Jim about when he gets back to show how productive they were.
  • Paper airplane building (and flying) contest.
  • Play games on their computer.
  • Increase the workplace chatter with coworkers.
  • Call in sick.
  • Nap in the boardroom.
  • Complete Amazon online shopping.
  • Catch up on social media administration.
  • Watch the extended editions of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

So, what are we going to do instead?

  • Identify Jim’s expectations and priorities before he leaves to be sure to get as many things done as possible.
  • Exceed Jim’s expectations of what we can do while he’s away.
  • Send Jim a brief email with status updates of progress while he is on vacation.
  • Eagerly stand by Jim’s office waiting for him to get back.
  • Our work.

What’s in the Pipeline:

  • Carol is editing April CA titles, working on a custom project and creating marketing content.
  • Jan is creating components for our April releases.
  • Kevin and Sydney are working on custom projects.

 Tech topics:

  • Work is in progress on Badging
  • Work is in progress on Career Paths

Course Count:

Courses released this month:

Here is the official count of courses for both courseware and eLearning, broken down by Computer and SoftSkills.

Computer SoftSkills Total Courses
Courseware 278 167 445
eLearning 879 164 1043

 

Some interesting facts about vacation time:

(Thanks to Ally Marotti, Chicago Tribune Dec. 20, 2016)

  • More than half of people who get paid vacation time don’t use all their days off.
  • The average amount of leftover days is 19, and the median is seven.
  • American workers left 658 million vacation days unused in 2015.
  • Finnish, French, Spanish, Italian and German workers were given 30 vacation days and used 30, 30, 30, 25 and 28 days off respectively.

Why do people not take their vacation? Here are the most often reported reasons:

  • They have something to prove and need to be at work to do it.
  • Banking the days.
  • Feared the amount of work that would be waiting for them when they got back.
  • Enjoy their work.
  • Couldn’t afford a trip.
  • Worried their job would be at risk if they were away too long.