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wbjournal.com | January 23, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 19 By AiVi Nguyen AiVI Nguyen is a partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey. Reach her at anguyen@ bowditch.com. On March 20, I was admitted to a hospi- tal's intensive care unit for a severe case of pneumonia. I was in the ICU for six days and stayed an additional 10 days in the hospital before being discharged home with oxygen therapy. It took two weeks before I could go a day without needing the oxygen tank. My lungs were significantly damaged, and it took nearly two months for me to be able to breath well enough to be cleared to return to work, on June 16. I was on leave 88 days. Here are 10 things I learned about managing your practice while you are on unexpected medical leave. 10) Your health and your clients are better served if you take a leave of absence and trust your team to manage the matters completely while you focus on your recov- ery. However, you must build the team and the infrastructure in advance. 9) Remember a leave of absence is not a vacation. When you return from vacation, the work you left is still waiting for you. If your return from leave feels like a return from vacation, it means you did not create a strong enough infrastructure. 8) Cultivate a practice where you are not the only one staffed on a project. A good rule of thumb is every client-related entry in your calendar should be in at least one colleague's calendar. 7) Encourage your team and your clients to interact as much as possible, so if you are unavailable, your clients are confident they are still in good hands. 6) Grant another person access to your emails and voicemails and direct people to that person in your out-of-office auto-reply email. 5) Even if you can work in some capacity while on leave, avoid it. You risk duplicative work or inconsistency. 4) Manage expectations about how long you will be out. If you don't know when you will be well enough to return to work, don't commit to a date. 3) Transition back at your own pace but clearly communicate with your team about what you will be handling and what you still need help with. 2) It is much more efficient to meet with your team on the statuses of all the projects first and to treat the backlog of emails as secondary. 1) Be prepared to disclose, at least, the cause of your medical leave to colleagues and clients. They will be wondering, and your silence will be awkward. Read the room in terms of how much detail to share. K N O W H O W Web design trends to watch in 2023 W hen you run a company, realizing it might be time to step aside can be a difficult thing to accept, both practically and emotionally. As tough as it can be, it's important to realize when you've contributed everything you can, and when your skills and qualifications might be a better fit somewhere else. Here are a few signs it might be time to move on. You're getting complacent. You took on the job as a new challenge, and now you've conquered it. But if you've gotten to the point where you could do it in your sleep, and you have no desire to push yourself any further, it might be time to consider doing something else. "If learning, growing, and pushing yourself is not how you're currently operating, then it may be time to pursue a new passion," John Rampton, entrepreneur, investor, and startup enthusiast, wrote for Entrepreneur.com. You feel depleted, not energized. When we start a new position, we're usually full of excitement, ideas, and passion. But if you find yourself counting down the minutes to quitting time for weeks or even months, that could be a bad sign. "If you feel that way about your job and you're the CEO, everyone in the organization knows it. It becomes a kind of negativity that infects everyone," Jim Schleckser, CEO of e CEO Project, wrote in an article for Inc.com. "at's why it's important to check your own energy level and see how you feel about your job." Your priorities have changed. People grow a lot throughout their lives, and it might be that you're not the same person you were when you started your current position. You might have a different idea of what success looks like; an idea maybe making more sense at a different organization. "In 2008, Howard Schultz famously returned to lead Starbucks. He wanted to focus on the coffee chain's core values and de-emphasize growth," Ramit Sethi, CEO of GrowthLab.com, wrote in an article for CNBC. "In the years aer his return, Starbucks grew into an $85-billion company." 10 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT... ... Returning to work after a long hospitalization 101: H O W T O K N O W W H E N I T ' S T I M E T O M O V E O N BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ Emma Pagano is the strategic director for web design and marketing firm Pagano Media, with offices in Worcester and Boston. Reach her at emma@paganomedia.com. BY EMMA PAGANO Special to the WBJ A variety of new and timeless design trends will set the best websites apart in 2023. Consider implementing a few of these ideas to give your site a fresh look and feel. Creative typography - Fresh typogra- phy expresses creativity on your website. Fonts to watch: Futuristic, Serif, and Classic Modernism. Futuristic fonts blend sharp and rounded corners, wide letters, and a clean blocky feel. Serif remains a timeless staple for brands evoking sophistication, timeless elegance, and brand trust. Classic modernist typefaces such as Neuvetica are rooted in clean lines and simplicity. Subtle animation - Animated text engages and informs the viewer. A fade in/out, slide in/out, animated typing, and horizontal and vertical scrolling enhance messaging. Animation overload can overwhelm viewers, so save this treat- ment for key messaging points. Custom illustration - Web visitors are getting tired of seeing similar stock photography across websites. Enter dig- ital illustrations: a new way to tell your brand story. Illustrations tend to attract more attention than text, especially when users only scroll on a page for 10 seconds or less. Scrolling effects - As users scroll down a webpage, different layers of content can move at varying speeds, creating depth. Well-designed scrolling effects engage users to scroll for more information. Horizontal scrolling is a smart option for portfolio-heavy websites, such as real estate, architecture, and construction. Page speed - Many factors deter- mine page speed, including file sizes and image compression. Since Google Search puts a premium on page speed, it is a major factor in determining your website's success. Page speed impacts visitor satisfaction and, ultimately, your web conversion rate. Accessibility - Web accessibility is the inclusive practice of making websites accessible to people with disabilities. Making your website accessible not only benefits people with disabilities but communicates to a wider pool of potential customers and employees. Start by adding alternative text for images and using proper headings to meaningfully outline content. Video - Video is the best medium for showcasing your people, products, and services. If your competitors list written attributes about their products, while you visualize products through video, viewers will be inclined to pursue the option they can see. Since Google owns YouTube, video helps boost Google search rankings. Color theory - Color influences a web visitor's understanding, mood, and be- havior. Color theory helps web designers select impactful color combinations. De- cide when to use vibrant or so colors, depending on your brand identity and emotions you'd like to evoke in visitors. Search engine optimization - Prior- itize SEO in the design phase. Ensure your navigation menu and pages accurately reflect your core product or services. Approach web design with a mobile-first mentality for SEO purposes. Minimalism - Web visitors enjoy clean, easy-to-use websites in the age of infor- mation overload. A cluttered or confus- ing design sows confusion and causes viewers to exit your site. Less is more in 2023, and beyond. W W W