Connecting with no watercooler

Many people grieve the spontaneous and serendipitous connections at the watercooler. 

Lots of moments have been lost with remote work: 
interactions in the kitchen, collecting documents from the printer, walking to and from (and in) the bathroom, riding the elevator, walking to the station or car park, strolling to the cafe, walking between meetings...

So many incidental interactions and happy collisions (or avoidance 🥸) that were happening, and now aren’t. 

Alex Howland, Ph.D. suggests 4 ways to spark watercooler moments in Forbes:
1 camera off and avatar on
2 channels for non-work conversations
3 cross functional digital events
4 creative virtual worlds. 


🎯 AND these techniques work well with teams I’ve been working with:
- drop in zoom for coffee or chat, anytime
- shorts: 12 minute check ins and catch ups
- play time: virtual casual play time, reminiscent of school days, no work only play
- commute pairs: hang out with 1 other person as you begin your work, to chat, connect and share 
- cowork: mics off and cameras on for calm companionship. 

Experiments are useful. What will you try? 

It’s the creative challenge of the changing times we’re in. 

Back-to-back is bad to worse

If the view is ‘full of colour’ when you look at your diary or schedule, you could be in the back-to-back brigade who don’t get a break. 

The scheduling - and acceptance - of a day of meetings running one into the other, is tiring, inefficient and distracting. 

This Forbes article by Bruce Rogers talks more about how our brains needs a break. 

Our ability to focus lessens as the day goes on and the cognitive load of no, or few, breaks doesn’t serve us either. 

Microsoft recently made changes to their deep down default settings in Outlook for appointment durations and scheduling. You can customize them further for your own preferences and well-being. 

This is in an effort to reduce the rotten fatigue that results from a back-to-back schedule. 

But it also takes individual, leadership and cultural shifts on ‘how we do things around here’ to bring an end to the back-to-back-badge-of-busy. 

Here’s how I roll: 
- Finish early. 
- Schedule breaks
- Block out time. 
- Protect the boundaries. 
- Model better behaviours. 

There are clear ways for us to adopt to get from bad-to-better in the breaks-for-brain game. 

What are you doing to break the back-to-back?

A high potential for ... burnout

Why is it some people working with some leaders in some environments experience burnout ... yet other don’t?

This difference is stark and at the heart of why some things fire us up ... and others burn us out. 

In this Forbes article by Alain Hunkins, it’s revealed that “engaged employees who have job flexibility tend to work more hours per week than the average employee, while reporting higher wellbeing.

“When people feel inspired, motivated and supported in their work, they do more work — and that work is significantly less stressful on their overall health and wellbeing.”

This finding was echoed in Gallup research. 

Review the article for :
🔥 the 5 causes of burnout
🔥 the 5 signs of burnout 
and, importantly, 
🔥 the 9 solutions to burnout. 

And if you’re a high potential performer with a strong work ethic, bookmark the article and keep an eye on the flames: you could be prone to burning out more than firing up. 

Leading change ... remotely

For leaders in these times of remote and hybrid work, change still has to happen. 

Guiding, leading and inspiring change can require some new and different techniques.

There’s still a requirement to have:

⏺ Engagement for change 
and 
⏺ Capability for change. 

This week I’m working with a leadership team to prepare them to better engage their team for change. 

We’ll be focusing on how to have better, more engaging conversations about change ... remotely. Handling tough questions, raising challenging topics, building greater human connection... online. 

Then it’s onto the skills the entire organization needs - to ensure teams have the capabilities to embark on the changes planned. 

This includes being able to work in a hybrid environment - where some people are onsite and some are working remotely. We’ll build problem-solving, sensemaking and decision-making skills. 

Whatever you’re changing, think about 
- engagement... for the leadership team,
and 
- capability... for the wider organisation. 

Tackle both for more successful remote, hybrid change. 

Connecting deeper ... remotely

In these hybrid times when people may be here, there and anywhere, there’s a danger we miss the good quality, deep connections. 

Not the login type of connection - nor the break the ice chit-chat connection. 

But rather, the deeper ability to engage with people, to bring warmth, humanity and empathy to an online call with a remote team. 

To say ‘it’s not the same as face to face’ or ‘it’s hard to read cues and body language’ is to try to use the same techniques. 

But you may have to do something different. Many things different. 

How can you better connect with your team no matter where they are? 

Many days of each week I’m working with a brand new team, a new group of people I’ve not met before. Swift and deep connection with them is a priority. 

We’ve got to be able to get close online, to trust and build engagement so we can achieve what needs to be achieved. 

And quickly. 

Consider how you’ll make connections with your team, group or meeting participants. 

Every time. 

Don’t leave it to chance. 
Or think it’s not important. 
Or that you’re already well enough connected. 

How deeply you can connect with people affects everything else that follows.