As the lack of “normalcy”, a lack of community and the humdrum of sameness day in and day out plague humanity, along with the darn virus’, the things that helped us be successful and productive have changed, maybe forever.
Let me explain. A few weeks into the first lockdown in March last year, I found that I had about 2 to 3 hours a day of unscheduled time, time when I would have been in my car driving in-between appointments. It almost felt like a new freedom!! However, a year later I realize that I didn’t increase my output by that much, in fact I don’t really know where those additional hours went. They just got swallowed up somewhere.
That, and the reality that the world has been changed irrevocably, and life and work never be the same again, is a mindset change with which most of us are still grappling. What can be done to bring a normal rhythm to a humdrum locked-up life? How can we design wellness into our lives and into the lives of our valued team members?
Ritual; celebrate wins and milestones, and connect. For most of my clients, that is what they miss most, and this is where I see the most innovative solutions.
- Rituals – we all had rituals to balance work, life health and social before Covid. We need to put that back. My 2 – 3 hours of driving was the time I used to decompress from one meeting and mentally engage in the next. I soon learned that 6 hours straight on zoom results in the worst type of fatigue. Now my scheduling is back to normal and I walk around between meetings, to decompress and mentally prepare. Reinventing that ritual has been a huge game changer in my effectiveness.
- Celebrate wins. In an office situation we could walk around the hallways and celebrate with a high five, ringing a bell or a pizza lunch in the boardroom. It was casual and often unplanned. We still need to celebrate wins, regularly, but in a very different way, as well as keeping communication channels open enough to celebrate on the fly. Stanford professor BJ Fogg (Tiny Habits) has found that celebrating successes is instrumental in creating lasting behaviour change.
- Setting milestones and making the progress visible. (A principle in the four principles of execution) Similar to a scoreboard at a hockey game. Everyone is motivated to move the metrics on a scoreboard.
- Open communication platforms for groups such as slack, teams, or WhatsApp are becoming more popular. It is great place for casual high-fives, and celebrating the wins and achievements in-between the milestones.
- Connect, connect, connect. We do underestimate the amount of time we used to spend in an office environment connecting with people, formally, casually and in-between. On the question, how should I connect with my team, err on the side of too much. There were many reasons to stop by an office to chat, the need to do that has not disappeared. From the daily 15-minute huddle, weekly team socials, wellness competitions, and walks in the park, managers are coming up with new and innovative ways to keep building community and connection. What about an online game afternoon with Among Us?
So, accept the new reality, have some fun, and as with all new things, test and measure to find out works best for your team.
