First of all, apologies for being such a miserable cow last week. In retrospect, it occurred to me that whingeing about the general state of gloom was only going to add to the general state of gloom. Not very bright. Still, the good news is that I'm a lot more cheerful this week - and it's all to do with the great British weather...

You see, I love snow. Ever since I was little, I've always thought there was something magical about waking up one morning and seeing the world suddenly covered by a fresh white blanket; I've always adored the sensation of fresh powder crunching under your feet, and the exhilaration on people's faces as they run around in this strange new land. I suppose us Brits are obsessed with the weather at the best of times – so when it actually does something interesting for once, we're bound to get a bit over-excited.

Sadly, I'm no longer five years old – I'm a proper grown-up, with day-to-day responsibility for the professional lives of several other grown-ups (not to mention a very small portion of the UK's economic output). So, although all I really wanted to do on Monday morning was rush out to the nearest park and build a giant snowman, I had to spend the first few hours in organisational mode. Unfortunately, there was no chance of me getting into the office, since every conceivable mode of public transport was out of action - and much though I admire that guy who hiked 18 miles into work, there was no chance of me doing the same.

For one thing, it's a waste of valuable working time. With a laptop and an internet connection at home, I can get through just as much work there as I can in the office (more, probably). So I did that, and instructed any similarly-equipped staff to do the same. As always, there's an element of trust involved – particularly on this occasion, since any computer-less colleagues who couldn't make it into the office effectively got the day off. Since I couldn't think of any way round this, I decided not to worry too much about the prospect of any of them spending the whole day having mass snowball fights with the local schoolkids.

And to be honest, I didn't begrudge them it anyway. It's not easy to come up with something that will give a simultaneous lift to your entire workforce – and I think that Monday (either because people enjoyed the snow, or because they got an unexpected extra day of weekend) did exactly that. I know I came back into work the next day with a big smile on my face, and I wasn't the only one. A bit of time spent embracing our inner five-year-olds was just what the doctor ordered.

Of course, the only downside of snow is that two days later it turns into a ugly pile of black ice and slush, which is good for nothing except ruining your new Uggs (a Thursday casualty). Let's hope my newfound optimism takes a little longer to evaporate.

secretdiary@managementtoday.com