Companionship at Work for Well Being
As any other commerce student, I graduated attending several seminars citing the case studies of- “ How Economies recovered from the Global Recession of the past”. I have heard and sensed the pain in the voice with which they had been narrating stories. But, never been able to understand the underlined need of learning from the past and preparing the economy for the future. I think, their appeal to accept the need for — “Being prepared, Shock Resistant, Adaptive to Change, and accepting organizations as nothing less than an Independent Entity, was always underestimated”. It will not be wrong to assume that, then in those auditoriums, the leaders were trying to convince us, that — “It is difficult to survive with the fear that arises from the economic uncertainties and insecurities. It is not easy to develop resistance or shield from external factors over a night, week, or month. It takes a lot, sometimes even the basis of existence from anything, starting from your own professional identity to the organizations you have been part of.”
I, as any other workforce participant, am no less than living their past in my present. But, possibly because of the nature of my work, there is something more I am learning and dealing with. As the unit of a social enterprise, I have read and written several proposals, stressing the need to create economic opportunities to ensure Life with Security and dignity for the communities with limited resources. The lives I tried securing through my work, today, seem to be living near the river with no dams. This is the situation of anxiety and stress for leaders like us. The headlines like- “ Widening Inequalities, Reversing the Impact created and others” are scary. It feels like washing away, whatever earned. It is like a silent disaster.
But, this is a global situation and we have to learn to manage ourselves and others. But how to learn and from where? Should we learn from others? From some of the best practices of the past? NO, we need not. We do not necessarily need to relate or try to fit ourselves in anyone’s shoes. We only need to commit. We have to commit, to walk through this while learning with others.
Before moving forward, we also need to define “Others” and decide, where are we as leaders in this terminology. We know, The leaders of/in the organizations — social and others, are writing and pitching for investments, trying to raise enough to survive, and support their employees. But it will be harsh to neglect that they are struggling to raise /ask for economic, mental, and social support for themselves. The teams are required to be more humane, kind, empathetic, and considerate towards each other across levels.
Along with fun virtual evenings, games, and other motivating things, there are a few important practices, I want to suggest and share here.
- Re-write the Values first, and then the Vision of your organization
Sit with your team, and schedule an evening for this exercise. Break this exercise into two steps. Connect virtually. Firstly, ask everyone to write down, the Values of the organization — the values they reflect in work processes and policies every day. Once aligned, in the second step then make them, write the Vision of your organization. And then let them read individually, and absorb.
In the end, the facilitator, along with the team should repeat “ We will do everything possible to achieve this vision within our value systems, to secure each other during this time. We will together move towards safety and survival. No one will be left behind.”
2. Understanding the Capacity of your Team over Capacity Building
There is a lot of pressure to develop modules to train yourself or employees on Capacity Building. I believe, this is the time, to learn, how this pandemic has re-defined the scope of their capacities. Their mental, physical, social, or economic abilities, probably would have decreased/declined due to ongoing externalities. They might need time to come back to the original state and possibly could not be prepared for change/upskilling or expansion of their abilities. Help or enable them to learn about their present state.
3. Flexibility in Support System
We need to understand there is no one-fit solution for all. Each employee irrespective of gender, class, immunity, and health conditions has their demands concerning flexibility at work. The men employees who never had been home, need time to settle and accept Home as a Public/Office/Work Space which was earlier their private space. They need time to accept Work-Life balance in reality now -24*7. However, in the case of women, with loads of information available on the internet concerning their challenges, we still need to revise our knowledge periodically, to bring effective and sustainable measures in the system.
For example, Avoid scheduling a Virtual Meeting in the slot of 9 to noon, since the children are studying or having exams during that time and have limited internet bandwidth. Similarly, if the majority of your workforce is from low-income communities, be considerate that they have been sharing their electronic gadgets with other members ( working partners/ kids) of the house.
4. Accepting — “Preparedness is a Time-Consuming Process”
In this startup-enabling/ encouraging ecosystem, every organization is unique and young. Every organization is innovative and itself bridging, challenging, and removing the blocks of the inefficiency of the existing system. It has taken a lot for them to get accepted, and establish themselves in the market.
However, this situation of the crisis demands a responsive attitude and Building Responsiveness requires a lot of courage to accept based on the factual reality of the current economic environment, that if they do not respond and react, they might cease to exist.
Every leader and organization’s business model is not solid enough to have an immune system. They might need to stop, reflect, analyze the needs and take safety measures accordingly. It is normal to accept that they need time to prepare themselves. So, if required, ask for some time from your investors, team members, and other stakeholders. It is important to prepare yourself and build your shield to fight and conquer.
5. Patience with Strength: The New Basic Rule of your Workplace
It is important to communicate across verticals, that we shall be operating with a new thumb rule: Patience with Strength. We need to accept that might the whole team get a medical emergency or the gestation/operation cycle of the invoices increases. There is a possibility that your business partner might shift to cost-cutting policies. But, all can be managed, the teams can adapt themselves to this through patience with strength. Patience reflects hope and strength reflects faith. We need to believe, we can handle and perform better.
6. Vulnerability is the measure of Companionship
Leaders in any capacity are humans and humans are social animals. We cannot be strong always and need others. Presently, it is important to communicate and ask for help from your team members. It is necessary to share that you are failing to make decisions, you are scared or you are unable to bring in as much support as possibly you could have. I know this sounds absurd and vague, a leader/manager cannot do this with their team, but I believe, we should. This will in actual terms lead to team building, a peer support system. Importantly, this will help a leader to remove their armor and leave the ego outside the room and become comfortable in not having all the answers, for not being able to emerge as a champion with solutions to all the problems. It is required to accept oneself as vulnerable and be comfortable with your vulnerability.
Other than these practices, empathetic listening, learning circles, and safe space should be fundamental of any support system. There is no science required to build support for all — including the leaders as well. If we have committed ourselves to be there for each other, everyone should be given a chance to accompany us. This is vital for the hierarchy to be removed, and establish equality in accessing or extending the support to each other.