Well-being as a major collective performance factor
At a time of a gradual return to the office, what lessons can be learned from the Covid-19 crisis? From one day to the next, our ways of working were turned upside down. We lost our habits (which had sometimes become routine?) of working environment, informal contacts, face-to-face collaboration and rhythm, with, if necessary, parents who had to take over from the schools on their working hours.
A shake-up…or a great opportunity for experimentation? This unprecedented crisis has led us to lift the cultural barriers we were imposing on ourselves and to adopt new behaviours.
Who would have thought… that salespeople would join colleagues on production lines? That food service teams would help retail teams to load the shelves in stores? That crisis meetings would be swept away by best practice sharing points? That social partners would meet every day to build solutions together? That fewer, shorter, more frequent meetings on essential subjects would greatly increase our efficiency?
Managers have adapted the way they lead their teams remotely, daring to trust. Teams have collaborated and broken down silos between departments, taken more initiative, accelerated decisions and, as a result, made projects a reality.
We dared to exist as people, discovered our colleagues’ children, shared our joys and satisfactions, but also our fears and difficulties. From physical distance was born an astonishing digital closeness.
This authenticity has given rise to tremendous outbursts of moral support, mutual aid and creativity in caring for others.
By leaving our routines behind, by refocusing on who we are as individuals, as colleagues, as citizens of the world, we have adopted new behaviours that have enabled us to perform despite the unprecedented difficulties of the context.
By daring, trusting, authenticity, sharing our weaknesses, we have been able to go beyond the limits of our functions, revealing ourselves as we are, acting out of passion, solidarity, thirst for well-being and positive impact on our ecosystems.
To capitalize on these experiences and new ways of being will require determination and ingenuity. As individuals, we must be daring. Continue to exist at work as we are. Discover a colleague’s job. Listening to each other, sharing our difficulties, asking for help, supporting each other, putting energy into essential things. Expressing our points of view, our ideas. Inventing new solutions. Deciding faster without mastering everything. SURPRISING our manager!
As a manager, we are invited to dare. Giving and receiving feedback to progress through the eyes of others. Breaking down silos, involving our colleagues and collaborating. To TRUST our collaborators!
As leaders, it is time to dare to revisit our ways of working and decision-making, to facilitate teleworking and agility in the management of time and space to enable everyone to pursue their mission by cultivating this well-being .
And we must be vigilant. To ensure that this breath of collective inventiveness does not wane. To give meaning, without being directive, so that each person, by aligning their intelligence, emotions and passions, can continue to have a better impact for themselves, for others and for the planet. GUIDING without mastering everything!