A little lockdown musings
As some of NZ heads out of lockdown and back into the office this week (sorry Auckland), my work too ramps up. For me facilitating workshops with teams of people is my most favourite part of my job so as soon as lockdown was announced, a number of my projects were pushed, and this was a bloody good thing. Why?
Because, call me old fashioned, but I love nothing more than groups of people coming together with the intention of growing, of achieving something together, of being courageous and creative. Sure you can do that online and there are tools to help with this but I just haven’t been able to replicate the magic that comes with people being in a room together.
Because there are so many amazing people running virtual workshops that companies have a lot of choice in this space. Rather than pour my energy into something that my heart wasn’t in and figure out how to bring the magic online, I have invested some of my time fine-tuning my in-person workshops to ensure I am always getting better at the parts I love. I believe there will always be a place for these and that this is my place.
3. Because it suits my family. Lockdown with small children is hard. This time around Lockdown with a small child with a broken leg, even harder. My goal was to make this period as calm, easy and hopefully fun for everyone, while still ensuring my business continued. In the 2020 lockdown I hadn’t long got my business off the ground. I still had some outdated views of what work was after 15 odd years of being an employee. I was so worried about the impact of this on my business that I forgot to relax, to breath and to enjoy the time at home with the kids. Don’t get me wrong, there is no way home-schooling is in our future but this time around I did what was right for my family rather than trying to be ‘at work’ at a certain time and for a certain amount of time. I took advantage of one of the major benefits of having my own business and I just slowed down. I appreciate how privileged this is but have also battled with the internal conflict in my head telling me to get to work, telling me lockdown should be hard, telling me to do more.
The picture is of Miss 5 on her class zoom meeting wearing a tigers head, just because.
This has been a nerve-racking experiment in trust. Trusting that the work will still be there when we head out of lockdown, trusting that I have done enough to ensure I am ready for it when it comes. And so far it appears the experiment is working. Next week I have three sessions lined up with three courageous businesses who are all wanting to run workshops in person to prioritise their team’s connection as we return to work and I couldn’t be happier to get back into a room with people in real life.
The point is, the lockdown experience is so different for everyone that the coming weeks won't just be a magical return to BAU. What are you doing to ensure your team are connected, supported and inspired?