Lockdown has changed the way we work, and it doesn’t look to alter anytime soon.
For many, these changes have been incredibly positive; the flexibility of working from home offers more freedom with work hours, and when the day is done, there’s no longer a commute to eat into your evening.
However, despite many perks, there are challenges to this new way of living and working.
One such challenge is how do you keep your teams well informed and working cohesively when some have never met? How can you ensure that your employees are maintaining a work-life balance?
You might even have workers who were furloughed for an extended period of time and need to relearn their job all over again.
Understanding how to refresh and revitalise a team that’s undergone this turbulent time is the key to a happy, thriving workforce.
So, here are a few ways to refresh and revitalise your workforce.
Attend a team course
Attending an online creative course could be the exact spark your team needs to get back into the flow of work and learn how to be creative as one. As many of us have been on furlough or working from home, the work dynamic will likely be very different.
Not only has where employees are working changed but how and who have changed too.
Changes in workforce hierarchy or structure are inevitable, more so when companies have been operating in unprecedented times – and still are. And with changes in hierarchy comes the potential for rifts or disputes.
Bringing your creative team together is essential to business success whether that’s assimilating new individuals or reconnecting a workforce that hasn’t sat together in the same room for a while.
Online creative courses are a standout way to bring together your team wherever they are, giving them actionable skills where they might need support or developing existing talents.
Your teams can learn from the best in the industry and work as a unit, forging better internal partnerships, which lead to better customer and client relations.
Work socials
Work socials are so much more vital than many workplaces realise. They create informal environments where employees can throw off the mantle of performance metrics, deadlines and expectations and gather together as individuals.
Social events let teams interact without any set agenda to help to build bonds within the workforce. This means a tighter-knit community within your teams and more creative output in the long run.
Splitting the work socials between online events and in-person physical events as restrictions begin to lift will mean everyone can attend at least some of the events.
A large proportion of workplace issues can result from miscommunication and a lack of understanding surrounding people’s strengths and where they may require support. However, if a team can interact without the pressures of work, this becomes less of a problem.
Awards and Incentives
It’s only after the lockdown hit that many people took a step back and thought about what was necessary; for a large number of workers, it was an opportunity to see how much work had encroached on their lives.
For those fortunate enough to keep their jobs, it was a case of reevaluating the work-life balance.
For those who were unfortunately made redundant, it was a trial by fire to reconsider how work was impacting life previously and what needed changing going forward – while, of course, getting back on the employment ladder.
This shift in worker’s consideration has been felt across all sectors and it is something that higher management needs to be taking into account when it comes to how to refresh and revitalise a team.
For many people, the emphasis on how important it is to maintain a work-life balance has also impacted what motivates them in the workplace. Rewards that take employees away from their family or home may not be as galvanising as they were pre-pandemic.
Therefore, it’s important to reconsider how exactly your team is being motivated. What rewards do you have in place? Are they valuable to your team? Do you have a genuine incentive structure with meaningful offers and results should the team uplift their productivity?
To ensure you’re not just offering a reward or scheme that revitalises a generic team with mediocre results, it needs to work for your team. You need to understand what your creative workforce really want – and the best way to do this is to ask them!
Setting up programmes that are honest in their ambition to lift productivity while providing genuinely impactful incentives is one of the best ways to show a team that, as managerial figures, you’re invested in their success and their personal lives.
It is also one of the best ways to refresh your team and improve productivity, workforce loyalty, and effectiveness.
