Get into the Groove

Anxious, fatigue, exhausted, disconnected, demotivated, lost…

These are just some of the words I am hearing when talking to people about “returning to the office”, I refrain from using the term “going back to the office” because that is one thing that, I believe, we will never do and that is “go back” to how we worked preCovid.

Why would we? If nothing else that we have learnt in this last year / 18 months, is that WORK can happen whenever and whenever the individual is working. It does NOT need to be at a fixed desk in a fixed location at a fixed time.

What Covid has given us is the flexibility to work how WE want to work. Now, don’t get me wrong, certain roles cannot be undertaken virtual. All of those amazing cleaners that have kept our facilities clean and hygienic through this pandemic, that is not a role to be undertaken virtually or underestimated, they are a vital role. Bricklaying, another role that needs you to be hands on, but for so many of us, even me as a Professional Speaker and running workshops, I can do this ANYWHERE.

So why are some organisations offering flexibility and choice with one hand and removing it with another? As one example, one friend has been offered to go back flexibile, 3 days in the office 2 wherever, and 1 of those days in the office must be Monday, well sorry but to me that is NOT flexibility.

Also, why are we not taking the time now to invest deeper within our teams to truly understand how to manage and motivate them, to drive our teams forward. We don’t need to “GO BACK TO THE OFFICE” we need to get into the groove of the new way of working and this starts with the people. People are at the heart of every business and if we don’t understand, them, invest in the them, support and train them, then they will leave. In the words of Richard Branson,

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”

Many organisations have spent the last year / 18 months just working out how to survive and continue to do business, service clients and remain profitable. NOW we need to look at who did that for us, our people. Don’t let them feel those 6 words above, bring them together (virtually or physically) and ASK them what they want because we are all different, we have a unique DNA so we need to be managed, motivated and lead in different ways. What motivates me, will be different from what motivates you, some of us our similar but we are unique, its what makes us human.

Even the taste of chocolate – how your brain interprets that tase will be different to mine and there is no way of telling what that difference is.

So what’s next – what can YOU DO, to support your teams, your people, your organisation.

Start by understanding them, their strengths, their value to the team, the way they want to work, what motivates and drives them, and yes, I can help with that, it’s why I rebranded to Queen of Behaviours, I live and breath my mission to help YOU make the workplace work, by putting people first.

You may have the best service or product in the world but without your people you have nothing. Don’t offer them choice with one hand and remove with another because they have the choice, to stay or go.