At long last! For many this is a time to begin to plan for returning to the workplace and some sense of the familiar and the normal. Re-connecting to the workplace may create another period of flux at first and one where more than anything you need to give yourself time to adjust. No need to panic, do not rush – just calmly and slowly re-connect.
This blog has been written to help plan for re-connecting with both your work and colleagues whilst maintaining a positive mindset.
We’ve all experienced the past year differently
What do you feel about the last year and how you adapted to it? Did you develop new skills and interests or exercise regimes? You may have enjoyed working from home and relished more time just with yourself and your own thoughts or with your family. Or you may be overjoyed to be back with the work vibe and catching up with colleagues and office chatter.
Remember your responses may differ from those of others so please try not to compare yourself too much. Just accept that whilst we have all been through the same events, how we have experienced it, how we react and how we shall now adjust, will vary.
Finding your own way to re-connect
Focus on finding your own way of re-connecting with the workplace, this is what really matters.
Two questions to put to yourself may help:
- Ask yourself “what have I really missed about my workplace during lockdown?”. Visualise it and look forward to rediscovering those moments again. Perhaps it is about the coffee-time with colleagues, or the physical pleasure of seeing people “for real” rather than in virtual meetings. It may be that feeling of being close to your colleagues, or able to pop your head round the door to ask your manager a question. Look forward to finding those things you have missed – you probably appreciate them more now than ever.
- Now ask yourself, “What will I miss about being at home?” Perhaps it was having time for breakfast or a proper walk at lunchtime? Or maybe it was being able to get on with things in your own way and to your own priorities. Find a way to keep those positive experiences going even when you have returned to the workplace.
That time away from the workplace will have given you a different perspective on work, on yourself, on life priorities. Respect that new outlook, those new feelings you have and what you have learnt from the experience.
You might find it a good conversation starter on your return to the workplace simply to ask others how they were feeling, what they felt they had learnt or even put to them those two questions you posed to yourself. Encourage others to talk, to share their experience. That will help you as well as them to find common ground as well as recognising difference.
Productivity and lockdown
Recent research [1] has shown that overall, we have been productive during lockdown with nine in ten employees feeling they had got at least as much, if not more work done at home as in the office. At the same time many people commented on how much they had missed being with their colleagues and having that simple everyday support around them.
What was your experience? How productive do you feel you will be when you return to the workplace? It’s an important question since organisations everywhere will be looking to gain real momentum, catch up and move ahead. Personal productivity will be an important contribution to make.
Preparing to re-connect
You may find it helpful to prepare for your re-connection with the workplace almost as if you were going for a new job in a new company. Treat it as a new opportunity, something to be excited about.
Decide what to wear that makes you feel comfortable, relaxed but also special and purposeful. Get a good night’s sleep and a refreshed start to the morning. Getting yourself physically prepared is an important positive step.
Now prepare mentally. Go for a walk to reflect on the last year, mull over the key high and low spots, pinpoint how you are feeling now and the emotions you have experienced. Rehearse what you will say to the inevitable questions “how are you?”, “how did you find lockdown?”
Finally, start getting work ready. Share with your manager what new skills you have learnt or new perspectives you have on life. You may also have recognised new areas where you would like to develop. Ask questions about what is happening in your organisation, how things have changed, and clarify what will be the key priorities.
Check-in on the health and wellbeing as these are areas where employers have increased their focus. Both mentally and physically prepare for this as a new phase of your life and not merely a return to the past, but a positive step into the future of work post-lockdown.
Developing a positive mindset
So, by all means look for the familiar, the tried and trusted, those things you valued from the past and will be glad to see back in your life. But also look to the new, the possibilities as well as the challenges ahead, and the opportunities to do some things differently. It’s a question of developing a positive mindset and mental framework which will see you step forward with confidence, drawing on your personal resilience.
Remember – you are in control
Manage your expectations of yourself and of others. Be forgiving and give yourself enough space. Emotionally you may find your moods swing a little more than usual, physically you may feel unexpectedly tired at the end of each day. Getting into a new routine, finding the new as well as the familiar, may have both an emotional and physical impact and these are normal reactions to change. Remember, you are in control and do take care of yourself.
For further reading
12 Steps to Improve your Personal Resilience
If you’ve found this post helpful, you may also benefit from this earlier blog, written during the first lockdown. It covers 12 simple steps you can take to develop a set of skills and behaviours that will improve your inner strength, fortitude and to better cope with challenging situations. Read the full post here.
[1] Working from home under COVID-19 lockdown: Transitions and Tensions – January 2021March 2021
