Are You Ready To Re-emerge?

It’s coming. It is coming. It won’t happen all at once. Like a mass end of hibernation when we all leave our caves and blink into the sunlight. It won’t happen like that. But gradually we will be leaving our home work stations, the shared kitchen tables, the desks in spare rooms, the offices in the lofts…

Are you ready?

I mean of course we’re ready! We’re desperate. A little bit of social interaction. Chatting to colleagues in person, over a brew. Ending the conversation by walking away not having to find the two Leave The Meeting buttons.

It’s been tough. In so many ways. And we’ve had to do things differently. Every team in every organisation in every sector has had to rethink how they work together, what they do as a team, even what they do as a business. Some of that was a temporary fix. But some things have felt like a fresh, better way of working.

So will you want to go back to the old business as usual?  I’ve worked with a range of teams over the last 12 months, helping them keep their creative energy up and guiding them to land the big new ideas they’ve needed to make the most of this unprecedented year. And I know that those teams will want to find the best of both worlds when we do all get back to the office.

We each of us will have a unique opportunity to develop a new working culture as we emerge from the pandemic. And the right culture will be unique to each of us. What we do and how we do it should depend on our values, our characters and personalities, our ethos, our purpose.

The value of getting that right is impossible to overestimate. And getting it right will mean applying real creative thinking and collective creative energy. Here’s a tried and tested 5 step plan to consider:-

1. Spend time as a team exploring the possibilities.
2. Take time to identify what’s worked and what hasn’t.
3. Carefully define the 3-5 big opportunities you want to explore
4. Have a ton of ideas for what you can do differently.
5. Then agree on a manageable few and commit to an action plan.

I’ve helped many teams around the world go through this process and it’s always an energizing, bonding and worthwhile experience. But it’s never been more important than it is right now.

Good luck with the big re-emergence, whenever it happens. And let me know if I can be of any help.