Building Capacity to Cope
By Dairne Burns, The Good Day Matrix
Right now, we must come together to get wellbeing in our lives and in our workplaces.
Wellbeing, it is not only a loaded word, but currently it’s a buzzword that is getting thrown around everywhere, but not getting the infrastructure put around it that it needs to thrive.
An undeniable thread that runs through all our kōrero with people is that workplace wellness isn’t working, and our resilience is depleted more than ever before.
Change is an inevitable part of all of our lives.
We all know this.
But right now.
At this moment in time.
Change is coming in thick and fast.
And we are not coping with the ebbs and flows.
Collectively, we have had to adapt, shift, and accept, more than we ever have before.
Often with minimal time frames to process the meaning of what is happening.
We are anxious.
We are stressed.
We are uncertain.
We are nervous.
We are disconnected.
The leaders who we would normally look to in times of change and challenge, are sitting beside us in the same unstable boat.
Feeling the same sinking feeling.
Riding the same emotional waves.
Searching for the life rafts.
Learning on the fly.
So what can we do?
What can you do?
Both for yourself and for your team.
Acknowledge and embrace your feelings
Both internally to yourself, and to your teams.
We are all leaders, no matter our title.
How we show up matters.
Putting up brick walls and blockers is not achieving the trust and understanding we need to keep moving forward resiliently, together.
Closing off when things are not ok, is not only limiting your ability to step back, breathe and see the bigger picture. It is also limiting your ability to connect to people.
The phrase ‘misery loves company’ comes to mind here.
If you project that you have it all together when you are quietly sinking under overwhelm.
No one can share or empathise with you.
Nor can they support you to find the life raft you might be desperately searching for.
They will also not share with you where they are at, particularly if they are not coping.
And you need to know!
Leading with authenticity, vulnerability and honesty is critical to supporting yourself and your team to come together, in safe ways, to kōrero about how we are actually feeling, and what we need from each other to float and get to shore.
We need to do it together.
Pirates needed a map to navigate the uncertain seas and so do we
As I said at the beginning, workplace wellbeing needs a strategy, it needs infrastructure and it needs actionable steps in order to thrive.
It can’t be piecemeal and unstructured, not for you and not for your people.
Without structure, accountability, or clear intended outcomes none of these initiatives will be sustainable, meaningful, or become part of the kaupapa of your team.
A culture must be developed where everyone has genuine care and empathy for each other.
Disconnected feelings cannot flourish if we rally together to make sure we are buoyant.
Here are five easy things you can do to support workplace wellness
● Non-negotiable daily 15 min team check.
○ At the start of the day, whether you are in person or remote, start the day knowing where everyone is coming from and if you can support them to lift or if they need to take a couple of things off their list.
● Create expectations and boundaries.
○ Emails should only be sent in work hours; people should not be receiving emails from you in the evening or early morning when you are working. Set up a delay for them to arrive within work hours.
● Instigate ‘vibe manager’ role.
○ Instead of the same people organising team building activities, each person gets a month to bring pieces of themselves to share - with the common goal to connect your team meaningfully. Examples: quizzes, dress ups, sing-a-longs, games, paper plane comps, shared lunches, the list is endless.
● Prepare for challenges.
○ You don’t know what challenges will present, but you can know they’ll inevitably come. If you are prepared, when challenges surface, you can smile at the obstacles because you have anticipated they would come, and you have a plan to move forward resiliently, together.
● Infinitely replenish your wellbeing tank.
○ Serving others requires your tank to be full. You need to have a plan to take care of all aspects of your wellness, body, mind, identity, community and environment. So, when you are feeling off, you can connect to what you need efficiently. Encourage your team to keep refilling their wellbeing tank at home and at work too.
What I can’t stress enough, is you need to have a plan of action.
Especially with the knowledge that change is going to keep happening.
And that stress does not allow us to think clearly.
This uncertain journey gets a lot easier when you know who you are, what you need and how to connect to those things.
For you personally, you need to have a plan to infinitely refill your wellness tank in all aspects of body, mind, identity, community and environment.
For your team and community, you need to have a plan that everyone knows and understands for your workplace to prioritize your team's wellbeing.
It needs to be functional.
Actionable.
Meaningful.
Inclusive; and clear that wellbeing is a priority here for everyone.
Wellbeing is unique and personal, it is different for everyone and yet, it is deeply connected all at the same time.
Come together, kōrero and set yourselves up to thrive with resilient capacity.
At The Good Day Matrix we want everyone in Aotearoa to thrive and live well, every day, so our platform is FREE. We are for social good, weaving body, mind, identity, community, and environment together.
We share authentic Kiwi stories, to connect, challenge perspectives, and build a culture of curiosity around the principles of wellness.