RETURNING TO THE POST-PANDEMIC OFFICE
To successfully implement your organization’s new work arrangements, have intentional conversations with your team.
After two-plus years slogging it out online, some of us are heading back to the office, at least part-time. Depending on who you are, this may a good thing, a bad thing, or something in between. One thing it is, though, is a change. A big one.
In our work with leaders and teams, we've come up with a few ideas to help you and your team make the transition intentionally and successfully, and stay sane, connected, and productive.
1. Check In Personally
The return to the office brings up a whole range of reactions: anger, joy, sadness, relief, anxiety…Everyone is unique. It’s important to acknowledge that this is a major transition and that it’s affecting everyone differently. Signal to your team that you care about how they are feeling by checking in with them one-on-one. Make it safe for them to express themselves. Ask them, “How are you doing?” “How are you feeling?” Your job is to simply listen. You don’t need to fix anything or solve anything. We all need to feel seen and heard, especially now.
2. Envision and Co-Design Your Future
Hire a facilitator/team coach and have an offsite where you ask everyone to share their hopes and concerns regarding the new working arrangement. What excites them? What is their biggest concern? Have a meeting where the whole team puts things on the table and problem solves together. Enroll the team to brainstorm ways to create a future that excites them. By co-designing their future, the team will have a shared purpose, they will more interdependent, and they will trust one another more. By having a voice in creating their team’s future, they will feel empowered and they will be inspired to successfully navigate the transition.
3. Jumpstart Stronger Relationships and Team Cohesion
During the pandemic, teams tended to focus on productivity and results at the expense of relationships and team cohesion. Teammates hired during the pandemic will meet their teammates for the first time; this can bring up the jitters and questions like, “Will I like these people?”; “Will they like me?”; “Do I still want to be part of this team?” “How do I work with these people?” Here are tips to rebuild team cohesion:
Help people get to know one another better.
o Have people share something personal about themselves. Design interactive activities where people learn more about one another.
o Have everyone on your team complete an Enneagram assessment. (The Enneagram is a personality system that has 9 types, each with a different worldview and a particular pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving. The Enneagram differs from other personality assessments in that it focuses on motivation, not just behavior.) Hire a Hive team coach/facilitator and hold an offsite where team members get to know one another better and develop deeper understanding and empathy by sharing their Enneagram type.
Positive interactions enhance employee cohesion. Create opportunities for team members to appreciate one another’s contributions.
Take a few minutes at the beginning of every meeting for teammates to connect with one another on a human level. Include a simple prompt or icebreaker, e.g., “What’s a highlight from your weekend?”; “What’s something you’re grateful for?”; “What’s something new in your life you’d like to share?” Get creative!
Create opportunities and spaces (in person and virtually) for people to connect and simply socialize. Have a common area with snacks. Host a happy hour. Eat lunch together.
4. Intentionally Redesign your Team’s Culture and Norms
Hire a team coach/facilitator and have an offsite where you explicitly align on who you want to be together. Here are some excellent starter questions from the Center for Right Relationship (CRR Global):
· Values: What’s important to us? What are our top 5 values?
· Culture: How do we want it to feel when we’re together?
· Norms: What’s okay and what’s not okay on our team?
· Conflict Protocol: How do we want to be together when things get prickly?
· Commitments: What can others count on me for?
5. Realign and Refocus the Team
In addition to designing trusting, authentic relationships, successful teams talk about their shared results. Teams beginning new work routines can benefit from reorienting to their shared results. Hire a facilitator/team coach and have an offsite where you refresh your team’s purpose (why you exist), your goals, and your success measures. Revisit and clarify your roles; is everyone doing something that taps into their superpower? Does the way you make decisions need to change? How will you celebrate success given your new work routines?
If you follow these steps we promise that your team will thrive and exceed expectations. What intentional conversation will you have with your team today?
Need help returning to the post-pandemic office? I‘d love to help! Call me today.