Getting the band back together?
Changing assumptions on productivity and engagement for internal events.
We are still spending up to one in four work days working from home, even more for professionals and managers. This flexibility is fantastic, but managers are struggling with how to rebuild the engagement across teams that is essential for collaboration, innovation and delivering on priorities.
Microsoft's April 2023 Work Trend Index report analysed surveys of more than three million employees at more than 200 companies and compared these with the stock price movements of these companies throughout 2022. And the results were clear:?High employee engagement correlates with stronger financial performance. More than that, the research highlighted “both engagement and productivity drive performance – and they are mutually reinforcing.”
Bringing people together is essential to building engagement.
And here’s where we feel pressure when planning in person events – to cram lots in, to cover more ground, to “get the most” out of being together.
But what if less is more?
We need to be counterintuitive in productive event planning if we want to genuinely build engagement:
Give people space to breathe, to find their way back into those conversations of trust and build new connections with colleagues.
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Great ideas don’t land fully formed – they need space to expand.
Even with complex strategic planning sessions, I’m recommending to clients that we lighten the cognitive load a little – streamline the agenda, provide some extra breaks, and maybe organise a social event the night before for participants.
So many boards are only just now meeting in person for the first time since covid. These tweaks don’t reduce productivity – instead they are aimed at rebuilding genuine engagement and opening the way for fresh ideas.
How are you providing the space and time for reconnection during your internal events?
When you're getting your band back together, find some space to breathe.
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