As a CERN manager, you need to have access to many different channels of information. One – and perhaps the most important – of those channels is direct communication with your team and your peers.

“I’m rushed off my feet! I don’t know where to start. Even when I have time off, I just can’t relax. So when Sunday evening comes around, I feel as if I haven’t got anything done!”

I know many of us are even busier than usual during the long shutdown, scrambling to finish all our tasks to keep the work on schedule. On top of that, we have to deal with numerous organisational constraints and competing priorities, not to mention extra safety precautions.

Frédéric* is feeling down in the dumps: “I’ve always been good at my job and my supervisors acknowledge my excellent results.

Tomas* has spent the whole day in meetings with his industrial partners, discussing highly sensitive matters that have required him to be very diplomatic. He’s had to rein in his desire to say what he really thinks and put all his energy into arguing his case in the negotiations.