Leadership Offsite - Blended approach

Remember huddling in a conference room? It's almost cartoonish to imagine everybody squeezing centralised AC enabled & good ventilated space to connect to disconnect to touch on some non-work related topics. Yet, COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, and operate. Amidst travel restrictions, closures, and lockdowns, a sudden shift was experienced; from our usual days of going into the office every day, holding meetings, and working closely with our teams, all of us were working from home.

Working from home, we might have gotten accustomed to doing things independently. However, I am sure most of us probably had to make some significant adjustments to navigate doing our jobs while educating their kids and ensuring their families stayed safe. I recently realised that hosting meetings with my team online allows me to see that everyone and my team can use technology to work together on projects. Still, the fact is working remotely isn't the same as being together in the same space.

As many of us have started returning to the office for all our workweek, I have noticed a fundamental change: "The pandemic is nearing its conclusion, but meetings are still happening virtually. What an Irony?" Let me explain this with an example:- we are leaving home, going to our desk, sitting down, putting on our headphones, and connecting to Zoom/ MS team to chat with people sitting a few feet away from them. Isn't this True? The cognitive dissonance they may feel isn't because things are different but because they're remarkably similar to how we were at home.

After working from home for almost two years, returning to the office will be an adjustment for many of us. While people across the globe prepare to transition back to the physical office, it's essential to know that they may not have the same motivation. It will likely take some time for us to find our flow again. Many of us may feel stressed about managing things efficiently and how to get back to normal? Considering the nuances, the Hybrid Policy concept has been created and adopted basis the nature of the organisations.

At @ACG World, while few of us started coming to work, our focus is on how can we effectively plan, communicate, and connect with our associates better, thus enabling them to return to work basis the nature of their role and need. We want our associates to feel the need to strategise around how to emerge more substantial and more aligned with the shifting needs of a post-COVID world. We realised that it's been a while since our team has seen each other face-to-face. Talking to one another online isn't the same as physically being together in the same space.

A moment of Truth for Team HR at ACG- We decided to have an offsite meeting for the HR Leadership team at Alibaug.

The two days offsite was designed to enable us to reconnect with one another and renew/build our bonds in a stress-free environment, boost our confidence, reduce fatigue & increase our mental alertness by being closer to nature.

"Make it better" – we live by this. Our focus is on creating an inclusive program that blends health and mindfulness and works as an organisation.

For me, this was an opportunity for us to open up without the stresses of a professional setting, which helped me boost our collaboration and got us to work together cohesively again.

I strongly feel that when we connect with nature and let us be ourselves, we feel good about ourselves & our self-confidence increases. The momentum we had built during the offsite will go back to the office with us. It felt super energising to be together and experience the infectious energy in the room driven by positive vibes from nature. We strongly believe that at ACG, our culture is the foundation for our organisation's future growth and success.?

As leaders, our job is to build, enable and nurture a strong foundation. Happy to share that at ACG, the HR Leadership team consciously initiated this journey.