Are you celebrating the latest liberation as the UK is coming out of lockdown? Or concerned that ‘getting back to normal’ might be anything but?
Over the past few weeks I’ve been chatting with my non-profit coaching clients about what they’ll be doing to bring their organisations and teams out of lockdown: Here’s our top tips:
1. Warm bodies in a room (or a park, at least)
Savour that connection with your team by getting together in real life, not on a screen. We’re three-dimensional beings, after all.
2. Learning from lockdown
Take time to harvest the insights that have bubbled up during these times of enforced reflection. We’ve all learned things about ourselves and our relationship with our work – some comforting, some less so – during the weirdness. Make space to share reflections & invite your team to do the same.
3. Everyone’s different
Yes, such a cliché! But, without the homogenising effect of a shared office or workspace, the contrasts between each individual in your team will have become more apparent. Work with that, to help people play to their strengths. Especially since…
4. There’s no ‘back to normal’
Nor should there be. Lockdown has changed expectations as well as working patterns. Some people can’t wait to come back to the office; others view it with looming horror. What I hear reiterated from my coaching clients, is that most of us – if we’re honest – are in between. This is a golden moment to rethink what works and what doesn’t in the working week.
5. Wellbeing to the fore
The shock of Covid has shown that all the stuff about staff wellbeing in the workplace was never just warm words; a ‘nice to have’ – it’s the heart and soul of what makes an organisation function – or fails to. So check in with your wellbeing policies in the light of what you’ve learned from lockdown. Are they fit for purpose? How can they be improved, firmed up, made more relevant?
6. Keep talking
If you’ve survived this far, it’s because you kept talking, kept sharing, kept your people – staff, stakeholders, funders – on board. You had to: otherwise you’d have fallen in a heap. So don’t let up now we’re ‘back to normal’ (which we aren’t, of course – see above!). Work on those touchpoints with those you most need to reach. A team meet-up; a WhatsApp group; an away day; a lunch and learn; whatever’s worked well. Stay in touch. Hug them close. (And you can do that last bit literally now too – with permission, of course!)
7. The fire next time
Fingers crossed, the nightmare’s over. But what if it happened again? You don’t have to be a doomster to acknowledge the possibility. So if another lockdown looms – maybe lighter, maybe tougher – how will you respond? A quick review of what worked, and what didn’t, this time around, could be invaluable prep for the fire next time.
Over to you
How are you feeling as we’re emerging out of lockdown and into a ‘new normal’? Which new ways of working are you going to keep? What might you revert back to for how it was done before? What part of this transition do you feel will be most challenging for your team?
What’s next
This year has been tough on the whole sector and, although we are coming out of lockdown, there are still big challenges to work through. Remember, you don’t have to do it all on your own! If you’re unsure of how to lead your team through this transition – and if you’d love someone at your side to support you, challenge you and cheer you on – let’s chat! Simply fill in the form below, and I’ll get back to you right away.
