Fighting Monotony with Choice and Flexibility
Before the pandemic, many organizations were stuck in old patterns, struggling with employee retention, innovation, flexibility and agility. The disruptions of this year have forced many to adapt and embrace a new way to work in order to survive. We put together a series called Change for Good highlighting many of the opportunities this season has provided, and free tools for your team. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Over the past four years at Link2Lift, we have emphasized the concept of choice and control for enhancing worker wellbeing, organizational effectiveness and innovation. This concept allows teams to maintain a certain amount of flexibility of when, where and how to work. The concept applies during this season of upheaval as well as during “normal” circumstances. You can utilize this concept whether you are a team member, leader, or freelancer. It is even a helpful guide for hosting and planning social events this year.
Giving people choices and flexibility allows them to feel a sense of agency and control over their situation. Before Covid, we already knew flexibility improved worker satisfaction and wellbeing, but that is even more true now that there is much more to navigate. Not only does each person have a different work style and situation, we all need to feel safe at work, and individuals have different comfort levels during this pandemic.
Harnessing this uncertainty presents an opportunity to explore and embrace creative solutions. Considering and using the concept of choice and control can be applied to our work and personal lives before, during and after the pandemic.
Choice and Control When You Feel ‘Stuck’ at Home
Choice and control challenge monotony and stagnation. Being stuck in a monotonous pattern is not conducive to creativity and innovation. Now that we are well into this new way of working, which for many of us includes working from home every day, we are getting stuck in new ruts again. The daily grind at home is a new kind of monotony, perhaps one that we romanticized about when we felt “stuck” in the office. Now that the novelty has worn off, many have realized that having a physical space designated for working outside the home is beneficial and some are eager to go back, but it may not be a safe option at this point for many organizations.
So, while you are working from home each day, it is necessary to consider your choices, and the ability to mix up your routine and environment to enhance efficiency and your own wellbeing. While you may feel ‘stuck’, it’s crucial to mix it up and resist the monotony. Here are a few tips for keeping your work week fresh, creative and efficient when working from home.
Get into a Flow State of Mind
Flow is an “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.” Studies show that experiencing flow results in higher levels of productivity, creativity, and happiness for up to three days following the experience. Flow can be achieved through focusing on any creative or physical challenge that you find yourself so immersed, that you lose track of time. It doesn’t need to be your work tasks, in fact, it may be better to do something else for a time to jumpstart your creativity and wellbeing in order to have creative breakthroughs with your work.
Spend Time in Nature
Research shows that spending time in nature enhances creativity, boosts memory, and improves mental health. One study compared people who walked through a mall with those who walked in nature, and 71 percent of those who walked in nature reported improved well being compared to only 22 percent of those who took a walk through a mall. So, the next time you feel stuck, get outside!
Reduce Distractions, Utilize Timeboxing
Our homes are full of distractions. It’s the most reported challenge to working from home. It’s difficult to sit and focus for long periods of uninterrupted time. One very practical tip to improve productivity and mix up your day is by timeboxing. Set a timer for 30 minutes to focus on a specific task. Guard that time, put your phone on Do Not Disturb, and focus. You will get more done, and feel freer to get up and take a break after a designated time of productivity.
Stand Up Every 30 Minutes
Many people do not have a standing desk or ergonomic chair at home. A study from the Mayo Clinic found that sitting longer than 30 minutes at a time has a negative impact on health and wellbeing especially if you are sitting in a less-than-deal chair. Try to stand up, stretch, and walk around every 30 minutes. Also, your body will thank you for giving your workstation an ergonomic makeover.
Choice and Control When You are Leading a Remote or Hybrid Team
Everyone needs choices; where to work, when to work, how to work, etc. This sense of choice is extremely important for satisfaction in a job. At the same time, there need to be some controls put in place for accountability and effective collaboration.
Consider how you can offer flexibility in hours and space, while also maintaining productivity and effective teamwork.
Overlapping hours are important for collaboration.
Overlapping hours are important for collaboration, but does everyone’s schedule need to be the same, especially when parents are often simultaneously helping their children with school from home? Allowing later evening or early morning hours may be a solution for some teams and individuals.
While not everyone is ready to return to the office yet, can you make the space safely available for some of the team? How about alternating days for the team to keep things properly spaced, sanitized and organized? Surveys show that younger employees are having the hardest time at home because they may not have a dedicated workspace and need more subtle daily coaching.
Designing and Preparing for the Post-Covid Workplace
It’s important that leaders do not talk about “returning to normal”. This will likely result in many employees feeling uncomfortable and unsafe. It also benefits the organization to embrace these new options! The choice and control that the pandemic has offered will ultimately improve team culture, satisfaction and wellbeing. Steelcase, one of the largest manufacturers of office furniture, is coming out with new recommendations and configurations for furniture that is based on research to keep teams safe. 70 percent of desks and office configurations before the pandemic are not safe as is, but can be reconfigured and reoriented so that they don’t sit idle.
If you are considering a plan for your team to return to your space safely, we can partner with you to create a comprehensive guide that we call “Navigating Flexible Space”. This plan is tailored to your space and team. It includes a wayfinding guide, a map of safely spaced workstations, expectations for sanitizing and spacing, and other clear guidelines for re-entering the workplace safely. This will become a trusted tool for your team.
Bonus Tip: Think About Choice and Control when Planning a Social Event
Planning small gatherings with friends and family has been a challenge this year, and as we head into the winter we will have to get creative to keep our social connections alive again. If you decide to have a safe, small gathering (following CDC guidelines), remember that not everyone has the same level of comfortability. Offer to call someone into a gathering if they do not want to meet physically. Group video calls are getting old for many of us, but here are some ideas to mix up your safely distanced and virtual activities. You could even send the article out to friends and family and see which ideas they like! Consider the choices you do have available rather than the restrictions, and make sure that you involve others in the decision-making and maintain sensitivity and empathy for others’ comfort level, and protect one another’s safety.
More about Link2Lift:
BELIEF:
We believe that whole communities can be radically transformed through re-thinking how we leverage empty and underutilized physical spaces.
WHAT WE DO:
We have developed a data-driven and human-centered approach to repurposing empty or underutilized space. We help our clients activate ways to use their space in a way that will ultimately benefit the common good of the communities around them.
VISION:
Our vision is to see a portion of every building dedicated to common good so that our collective impact will bring global change.
