Taking Juniper to Sydney!
As Calvin transitioned to Australia, he spent a few weeks working with us to hand over his projects. It was lovely having that extra time with him, but it meant some very early mornings for Calvin! Here he shares his thoughts on the first few weeks of his new adventure...
“As I made my way to the sunny shores of Sydney, Australia, I knew my time at Juniper was nearly finished. Nicki and I planned for how we would tie up loose ends on ongoing projects while I found my feet down under. It was a plan that worked well for all of us, with just one problem - Sydney is a whopping 11 hours ahead of the UK, and I had to learn to dance with the time zones!
After a VERY long 36-hour flight and two layovers in Beijing and Guangzhou, I finally made it to the ‘land down under’. The jet lag hit me pretty hard in the first week, but I swiftly overcame it, found a routine, and began exercising again, starting with 5k runs along the Bondi Beach promenade – this is the life! I found it beneficial to have a week off to recover and get my life together, ready to finish off the Juniper projects I was working on before the move.
Working across different time zones has its quirks, but with a bit of foresight, it proved manageable. Nicki, Alison and I recently tackled a call at 5am Australian time and 6pm English time. It was a bit wonky, but by adopting the Juniper way, we overcame those hurdles, just like all the other challenges we’ve faced collectively as a team. The key was making sure these meetings weren't just social catch ups and showing the sunrise view over Bondi beach from my apartment (it wouldn’t have been right not to make my colleagues a tiny bit jealous!) but making sure I had clear actions from the meeting so that I could keep the ball rolling while my colleagues were fast asleep.
It was a great experience bringing my Juniper work to Sydney, and a fitting way to end my time with the team. Although Juniper is moving into the distance in my rear-view mirror, I will forever be grateful for the invaluable lessons learned and camaraderie during my time there and for the amazing memories we created as a team.”