COVID has meant that all people experienced an added level of stress in their day , be it waiting in line longer , not finding the products we need , being in lockdown , or not being able to see the family and friends we normally could due to travel restrictions . And even in those states that have managed to miss a lot of the lockdowns , there were still impacts and delays . All of this before we discuss those that have died , impacts on family around them , jobs lost and general fear of what may be .
Keeping connected and supporting each other has been such an important facet of day to day work , such that by doing so , bonds and collaboration have increased with so many that I work with . That has only come through deliberate effort .
New staff have started and never been to the office or met a colleague face to face in over a year . Helping them navigate a new work culture and contacts has been critical to our collective success . Reaching out to be a sounding board to new people has meant that they feel supported . Weekly touching base whether they are in my department or not , has meant greater connection and greater understanding of cross functional roles . In fact some of these new relationships are so strong that work effectiveness and satisfaction is very high .
Team catch ups are more necessary than before to ensue people are connected , knowing what each other are doing and being able to support each other . Sitting at home for 18 months can be very isolating . It takes effort to schedule additional catch ups to just discuss “ how are you going ”, and whilst these can seem to be unrelated to work , its amazing how my work connections have been strengthened and more effective . Why – because there is so much more understanding and trust .
Work Socialising and fun activities has become critical . Be it Friday afternoon virtual drinks ( one of our staff has had a different cocktail each week ), or sending each team member pizza ingredients to make a pizza together on line , or fulfilling a colleagues need for chocolate ( and seeing who can send them a type of chocolate they have not had before ), all of these have been critical to building trust .
Video Conferencing has changed our life so that we spend so much more time on the computer . But not all the affects are great . People may be working from a lounge room , or non quiet area and the VC is imposing on their home life ( we have all seen the person dash by in the background , or heard things that were not meant to be shared publicly ). So how do we make this tool loved and a positive tool . Ensuring the camera is turned on is so important . Whilst not ideal , it allows teams to see if their colleagues are needing additional support . A call after a meeting to say – I notice you looked stressed , or a private message in the chat function can mean so much .
But with back to back meetings and no breaks , so many meetings launch into the business at
6 ISSUE 32 OCTOBER 2021 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU