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It is common knowledge that we humans can find change hard but right now, it feels like everything is changing around us. We are being asked to stay at home, our work is now online and our children are not at school. We can console ourselves that we are lucky that we have the technology to enable us to do this but this doesn’t stop us from feeling scared and alone.
As humans, we need to be connected with others and sometimes, connectedness via technology just doesn’t cut it. So, what needs to be done?
As well as providing the technology to enable people to work from home, it’s also important not to forget the human side. Check in regularly with people, make sure that they are OK with their home working setup. Schedule regular team meetings over telephone and using Skype/Zoom etc. Take the time to talk individually with people and listen to their concerns. A major aspect of dealing successfully with change is giving people the chance to talk about their feelings about it. Attending work every day forms a huge part of people’s identities, and not doing that anymore can represent a significant loss. Allow people time to reflect on how this feels and how they can rebuild a new work identity in their new environment. What is it that they bring to the team when they are in the office? Can this be done remotely?
Take time every day to connect with others. Join in and participate with webinars and discussion groups. There are lots springing up at the moment and I am taking the time every day to join in with something and connect with others. Look out for opportunities on Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms to join discussions.
Take time every day to connect with nature and the outdoors. Commuting to work can represent an opportunity to exercise for many of us and so being confined to home can really reduce this. Create new routines at home to allow time to get outside for a walk. This is much easier if you have a dog to walk as they need to be walked no matter what!
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Take time to reflect and learn. We are living through a period of significant change. A Google search today of the terms “Covid-19 and Change” created 1,890,000,000 hits. That’s a lot of changes going on! What can we as individuals learn from this? Can we create time each day to reflect and learn, read books that we’ve always been meaning to read, listen to a podcast etc?
Finally, we need to be kind to ourselves and others. Change is hard, its messy and at times like this, we all need a bit more support. Stay human, stay connected and we will get through this together.
I’d love to hear your ideas for staying connected. Drop me an email at susanne@feldsparconsulting.com