Back to the Future

So here we are, back at work 18 months after this whole thing started, holidays behind us staring into the face of year end targets, new product launches, new recruitment drives, fundraising…. dare I go on?

“Ever was it thus” I hear you say. Barely have you shaken the sand out of your suitcase than colleagues and clients are baying for answers to emails, the diary is full of back-to-back meetings, and you are already wondering whether your partner will let you get away with working Sunday morning again.

But this time, it is of course different, very different.

Firstly, anxiety levels continue to fluctuate from manageable to frankly disabling. Behavioural psychologists talk about 3 levels of anxiety dictated by differing levels of threat. The mild sense of the world not being quite right if you were to have the news that an untamed lion was on the loose in your country for example. From here, the news that the lion had reached your village would raise your anxiety levels a notch higher to genuine concern about the very real risk the lion represents to you and your loved ones. Should the lion make it into your house, anxiety levels would, quite justifiably, reach a higher pitch altogether, possibly resulting in anxiety attacks and fight or flight responses.

The last 18 months have taught us that not only is it realistic to expect Covid to find us in our homes (possibly provoking the higher levels of anxiety), but we can likely look forward to further waves of the pandemic as new variants develop and levels of infection fluctuate.

This means that our levels of anxiety are likely to continue to fluctuate for some time also.

What we felt about the whole pandemic situation last week may not be relevant this week, depending on how we consider we are likely to be affected.

Many of us have benefitted from well-being support and we have all learnt to adjust but this isn’t a done that, worked it out, moved on situation.

It is reasonable to expect ourselves, our colleagues, and our loved ones to continue to find the environment challenging at different times and in different ways and to face the return to work with some level of trepidation.

Secondly, our experience of the challenges of the new environment are wildly different from each other depending on our own personal circumstances. Never has this been more starkly highlighted than in the debate of return to offices. Even where we may have got comfortable with the idea of at least a few days in a week, our nearest and dearest may not agree and we have a new responsibility to keep others safe by our actions also. There is of course no right nor wrong in this debate and I am sure we are all watching closely to understand how it will unwind each with strong perspectives of our own.

In the meantime, flexibility around what we can expect to do and who we can expect to see face to face will remain critical for the coming months.

As a result, getting a handle on what we’ve missed, who we need to spend some time with, what we need to understand better, will all require a more proactive approach where we cannot count on all being in the same physical environment and necessitate proactive planning.

So, what are a few practical steps worth considering to help us navigate our back to the future work places?

1.????Check that what you are doing matters. I don’t mean necessarily that you are saving the planet nor that every single thing you do is imbibed with rich meaning. Unfortunately, most mere mortals have mind blowingly dull tasks which have to be done which enable us to get back to doing more useful things. Neither can we all be climate change experts nor making a radical impact on our local communities every second of the day.

However, to confront our new future with optimism and energy, we all need to feel that what we are doing is important.

On some days, ensuring we can make the rent will be sufficient but in the longer term, we could and should expect to feel our work is contributing to making the world a better place in some, even small way. A banker can hardly be described as altruistic in his/her intent and yet in my various banking roles over the years, I have found great satisfaction (most days) in contributing to local employment and supporting innovative businesses. Equally the guy sweeping the floor at the Kennedy Space Centre, famously knew that he was contributing to sending a man to the moon. Don’t underestimate the contribution your work makes to the world but if you are certain there is none, find work that does.

2.?????Ensure you are doing the right things. James Clear describes in brilliant detail in his Atomic Habits, how setting fundamentals and ensuring you stick to them creates brilliant results. Mostly this will not entail significant changes in what you do but small tweaks which will ensure that the time you chose to spend at work is valuable and contributes towards great outcomes. In my work with sales leaders our focus is around what the key inputs are which a great salesperson will deliver consistently, day in, day out.

Outputs take care of themselves where your core work habits are sound.

What should yours be as we go back to our new, normal workplaces?

3.????Plan some fun stuff. I doubt I am alone is saying the last 18 months have contained less fun than usual. It turns out that seeing people and spending time with loved ones is important to me. In the old world, this happened without too much effort on my part. In a new world where we have a new consciousness of the threat of the lion, we may well find that making fun happen requires more forethought and planning. Friends and family will all have different preferences around where and when to meet. Travel, especially abroad, will take some considerable advance planning and plan B’s may well be necessary for all our best laid plans.

Waiting and seeing was a sensible approach to a lot of the past 18 months but now is a good time to proactively build some fun back into our busy work agendas.

Since it was first released in July 1985, Back to the Future has stood the test of time and become one of the most profitable and beloved film trilogies of all time. I wish all your returns to your future of work to be as profitable and enjoyable!