‘We’re all in this together’ Quote by Mike Robbins.
We find ourselves in such strange times and many of us, if we are fortunate enough to be able to, are spending more of our time working from home. This means we can feel isolated and doubt ourselves. Communication through email and WhatsApp groups can be misinterpreted and lead to incorrect assumptions and misinformation. It is no longer possible to read someone’s body language, even on a video link, you do not get the whole picture of someone’s true feelings. Add to this heightened emotions, concern over loved ones, economic worries, the stress of keeping children calm and happy and the pressures of home schooling…how on earth are we all keeping sane let alone continuing with our jobs?!
As Mike Robbins says…”We are all in this together” and for myself as a team leader this is a sound way to think. For many leaders in many businesses data, profit, ambition…are no longer top priorities. Instead the well -being of our team members are what really counts. Not that we have not cared about our colleagues before, but currently when we are all facing the unknown and when anyone can be infected and become ill, the personal situation of our teammates has become highlighted. We want to make sure their families are well, that they themselves are coping and if they need any kind of support.
As a team leader myself I have been researching how I can keep our team connected. We only see each other physically when we are at school on the rota caring for a small number of keyworker children. As we have organised a rota to reduce the risk of infection our teams each day remain as static as they can so we see the same people each week and that is maybe only 2 people a week for some staff. We organised a whole school WhatsApp group as a way to communicate and from that we have distinct groups for different communication. So far we have not held group video calls, but this could happen if we felt it would be useful. However, even with all these systems to aid communication we still feel isolated because we miss the daily chat, jokes and general comradeship which form the physical workplace. We will definitely appreciate this more than ever when we return to normal working!
Idea for today: Keep in touch with your team members and ask them simply ‘How are you?’
While scrolling through Twitter I came across a video by Mike Robbins which provided a simple and clear way forward. I have added the link at the end of this blog.
He provides 4 steps which support that connectivity that we all want for our teams:
1) ‘Be real with each other’. These are difficult times and we have a lot to cope with; home schooling, concern over family members, home working. Ask your team mate ‘How are you feeling and how are you coping?’
2) ‘Check in with each other’. Ask your team mates ‘Are you OK?’ Do they have problems which are concerning them?
3) ‘Have important conversations’. Currently our emotions are high, we are not seeing each other in person, those differences of opinion which we can usually work through face to face are much harder to discuss.
4) ‘Appreciate each other’. Recognition is about rewarding people for their results, appreciation is about recognise people’s qualities, their effort, their courage. Be explicit with your team mates about what you appreciate about them right now.
Successful teams challenge each other and appreciate each other. They find ways to continue to communicate.
We can get through this situation and emerge even stronger. Just remember ‘We are all in this together’.
Stay home, stay safe.
Want to Explore this Further?
Watch this short video by Mike Robbins
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If you want to work with me, contact me on isabel@norfolklifecoach.co.uk
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