The perfect time to Learn Engage Discover
Chesamel stands under its three brand pillars; Learn, Engage, Discover. While these principles guide our offering, they also guide the way our team operates and how we move forward in business. In the present state of affairs, while a vast number of us are working remotely, circumstances which are unfamiliar to many of us, we believe it is the perfect time to turn those principles inwards and Learn, Engage and Discover on a more personal level, to grow individually and collectively as humans and businesses.
The Perfect Time To Discover
Our ‘discover’ pillar umbrellas the discovery of new talent for your business; however, at Chesamel we’re encouraging you, through this time, to discover new things about your team(s) and even yourself, because we understand that teams who can work well together will thrive together.
The nature of business today, no matter the business you work for, can stretch us relatively thin and leave time in short supply. Completing daily tasks and projects may leave little time for the team building you would love to encourage. Now as we have stumbled upon this new working situation and may find ourselves less frantic, frazzled and forever pulled from project to project, can you carve out the time to build up your team, and strengthen relationships to nurture wellbeing and success?
We would argue that getting to know colleagues on a deeper level is not a blurring of work and life boundaries but a way to solidify the teams which drive businesses forward. Teams who understand each other on a more personal level are more able to work seamlessly together; and when colleagues become more humanised and friendly, ideas can flow more freely. As people and project agency we recognise that a more relaxed environment and sense of belonging in a team can be beneficial for overall wellbeing and happiness in a job role. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs categorised a ‘sense of belonging’ as a major influence on human behaviour, alongside basics like food and shelter. Not only can happiness, wellbeing and team functionalities be improved, but the loyalty of team members can also be increased, when working within a harmonised group of individuals they feel connected with.
An empathetic and well-aligned workforce can operate in a very different and more enlightened way, clearing the path for better, easier communications and increased collaboration and creativity; now is the time to focus on discovering this.
“Having strong connections at work is one of the greatest predictors of happiness, success, and health, which makes it an outstanding investment of time and resources,”
Shawn Achor of Goodthink (WeWork)
A few suggestions on how to discover more about your teams:
- Celebrate each member’s best strength, giving praise and lifting each member of the team-up.
- Ask your team to publicly or privately share their biggest weakness or insecurities as part of the team and see what you, as management, or as a group, can do with this remote time to help each other to grow and build confidence in these areas.
- Personally, take the time to have a chat with an individual on your team or a member of the team you manage, ask them how they’re doing and get away from work as the only topic you discuss.
- Offer information about yourself to get the ball rolling.
- Create a (depending on business size) business or team WhatsApp group or Slack channel where the chat can move further away from work.
- Virtual social gatherings: Virtual check-ins will already be in full swing to keep teams motivated and looped-in, but can you add in a few virtual social gatherings too? While post-work drinks may or may not have been a common occurrence for your team pre-COVID-19, with time in abundance now teams may be more willing to engage with an after-work catch up or even quiz.
- If virtual games are a little full-on for you, you could introduce a ‘guess the…’: film, book, emoji – a charades-Esque video challenge. Each week one of the team sends a video which the other teammates have to guess; it’s not too time-consuming but adds a fun element to getting the team interacting.
- As a manager, now is a hugely important time to be having regular check-ins and ensure that all employees feel supported and are not struggling.
We’d love to know how your teams are moving forward and staying connected while we discover this new remote working situation. What have you discovered about your teams that you didn’t know before?