So . . . I do more than just work at TAaaS!

The British Quidditch Cup is fast approaching, and for me, as operations officer for the event, that means the pressure is on. And I couldn’t be happier. Since discovering quidditch in my second year of university and becoming a member of the Liverpuddly Cannons, to attending my first tournament; Tea Cup (hosted in my home town), quidditch has had a hugely positive impact on my life in many areas, including work.

Since TAaaS is still developing we get the exciting opportunity to develop the culture we want TAaaS to have. Whether TAaaS is formal, casual or anywhere in between is up to us. Our choices are influenced by our experiences, as everyone’s are, so I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss one of the influences that have had a real impact on me.

To many quidditch is just the strange game from Harry Potter, and it is that, but over time it’s become a real sport. And just like TAaaS can, they got to develop their own culture. Right from when I was first introduced to quidditch, the feeling of acceptance was phenomenal. A huge part of that is the people, but it’s backed up by the rules. The rules ban having a team of all one gender in formal tournaments. You can only have a maximum of 4 people who identify as the same gender on the pitch at a time. This promotes acceptance and stops one gender or the other dominating the sport. Obviously, applying the rule in the work place would be an extreme and in many ways unproductive measure, but the logic of expecting people to be open and fair, encourage people where needed and promoting diversity carries across. Teams can already recognise that your gender and how you identify doesn’t matter, its your team spirit and skills that are going to help you on the pitch. The exact same applies to the workplace.

Another great strength of quidditch is its acceptance and forward-thinking attitude to mental health amongst it’s players. Quidditch is largely played at universities and as such has a high student population. With mental health becoming more and more widely discussed and prioritised, the fact that many people involved in quidditch are open and supportive of people who are struggling with mental health or need to take a more active approach to maintain their mental health. If companies show awareness of mental health and take steps to support their own people, then they will soon see benefits. If employees feel safe and valued at a company, they are going to want to stay there, they will be loyal. Also, they are more likely to try and go above and beyond for their employer if they feel their employer’s doing the same for them.

Now I’m not saying quidditch is the only accepting or progressive sport, its just an example of how newer organisations have an opportunity, and perhaps even a duty to push themselves to be accepting, and open and looking at how they can be more inclusive.

As a final thing I’d like to discus, I’d like the broach the importance of being interesting. With a lot of jobs, there will be a lot of applicants who would fit the role and could do the tasks effectively. But will they bring anything new to the company? Probably not. By looking for people who have gone out and done interesting stuff, whether playing an unusual sport, having odd hobbies or just a real passion for something not well known, you’ll develop a team of people with individual experiences. They will be in interesting to work with, as well as being able to look at their past experiences and use learning from those experiences to improve how they work. Before working at TAaaS, I completed a degree in technical theatre. To many people that seems useless, but from that experience, I am confident with meetings and working on numerous projects at once. My communication skills on paper and verbal have been tested time and time again allowing me to easily get across what is needed, whether to a difficult director or someone working for me. While many of my skills from my degree haven’t been needed, no ones asked me to fire off any pyrotechnics or rig a series of lights for a meeting, many skills have been needed. Every experience will teach the employee something, make sure you are hiring people who have gone out and experienced things.

So now you know a little more about me, but do you need to know a little more about TAaaS? Get in touch here, whether you want advice on anything spoken about or you think TAaaS can help you out: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call me on +44 (0) 7958 168735