Covid-19, and the lockdown which followed, has impacted working mums considerably. Closure of schools and childcare facilities has meant that parents needed to be home during the working day to look after them, and this responsibility has fallen most heavily on mums.

A survey of nearly 20,000 mothers and pregnant women carried out last year showed that 72% of working mothers have had to work fewer hours in the lockdown period because of childcare issues.

As 81% of working mums report needing childcare in order to be able to work, lack of childcare facilities and the lack of flexible working hours for many, has had a huge impact. As lockdown restrictions ease, school and childcare accessibility should improve (although this will be of limited immediate benefit to the number of mums who have been made redundant during the period).

​​It is reported that 44% of UK HR professionals admit to feeling challenged by requests for flexible working and struggle to meet them. Frequently this is because the business itself has not been persuaded of the benefits. Perhaps one positive outcome of the lockdown has been the demonstration that flexible working is viable and can be beneficial to working mums and employers alike.

​For details on our maternity coaching programmes do get in touch - email enquiries@managingchange.org.uk or call us on 01223 655667 or find further details here.

Most of the mums and dads we work with are balancing the often competing needs of work and childcare. All families have their own arrangements as to how that balance will be managed. Yet it still seems that most nurseries, day care centres and schools only call or message mum when they need to get in touch. 

Many of the mums (and many dads) we work with find this quite frustrating especially when it is an assumed and default position. One dad told us that that even though he does most of the drop off and pick up, his nursery still messages mum with information and requests for his son. For many mums, being the assumed contact point despite dad,  granny or a nanny being the principal day carer is irritating and distracting when they are called by the nursery during a busy or demanding day. 

However, assumptions run both ways. Your childcare provider may be assuming that mum is the main contact point but if this is incorrect have you clearly told them? Some of our mums have recognised that they have shied slightly away from this clarity (maybe through fear of negative judgment or because they want to stay in the loop). As in so many situations, lack of clarity paves the way for much misunderstanding. Whether you are mum or dad, be clear about what you want and clearly assert your preferred contact arrangement confidently. While this seems ridiculously simple and straightforward, many don't do it. If that includes you, rather than beat yourself up over it, ask yourself why? Unraveling the answer to that may ease many related working parent stresses.

The easing of lockdown presents the prospect of life returning to normal. For many, this will not be straightforward and some will require additional support. The mental health charity Mind has reported that 60% of adults reported a worsening of their mental health during lockdown. At the same time employees are frequently unwilling to share their concerns about their mental health with their employers. So, whether we are acting as individuals or employers, how can we enhance our resilience, coping and positivity?

A recent study describes how linking flow with goal setting can have a positive impact on the prevalence of anxiety levels at work.

Flow
In the 1970s psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the idea of ‘Flow’. During initial studies of creative people (e.g. painters and musicians) he observed that they were engaged in their activities without any focus on external rewards and seemed motivated to carry out their activity purely for the sake of it. In the process they described being so absorbed in what they were doing that they lost sense of time passing or the environment around them. This became known as ‘Flow’ as people described the experience as like “being carried along on a stream of water”. In the years since, flow has been extensively studied and experienced by people in a wide range of activities.

Flow is associated with higher job performance, greater job satisfaction, positive mood, increased coping and enhanced job engagement. It is negatively related to burnout and anxiety. For example, being in a flow state has been shown to be associated with reduced cortisol levels (a stress hormone). Facilitating states of flow therefore can be effective in boosting and maintaining resilience and positivity.

Flow occurs when the degree of challenge in a task is slightly higher than the level of skill at hand.
 
Goal setting
Adding in focused goal setting appears to help us achieve a state of flow. Goals need to be SMART (i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound) and the study's researchers place particular emphasis upon the goals needing to be both achievable and challenging. Adding in nudges throughout the day, can help us to keep focused on them.
 
Nudges
Nudges are light touch, timely prompts we can use to encourage us to make beneficial choices which we might otherwise not make. Setting our own goals (self-leadership) sees us taking an active rather than a passive stance and appears to boost our experience of flow at work. Active stances are known to be helpful in maintaining resilience and overcoming anxiety. (As the old saying goes “action is the antidote to despair”)
 
In the study, the researchers asked the participants to set three SMART goals each day with a daily text prompt each morning. They were then sent nudges by text message through the day to nudge them into setting/working on their goals. At the end of the study they found  that this group of participants was significantly more likely to experience a state of flow than those who didn’t use this technique, and that this group self-reported improvements in their daily work performance, daily stress, and work engagement.

There are limitations with this study, as with most: it was a preliminary study with a fairly small group of participants (317) who were self-reporting the results, but it nicely included three distinct areas (flow, goal setting and nudges) for which there is a fair degree of support.

So, might it be something you want to try out for yourself?

They key steps are:

1. Apply this to each workday for several weeks (but not non-working days)
2. Each morning before getting started with work, identify three SMART goals you will set yourself for that day. They must be challenging but not overwhelming such that you can accomplish each one that day. Write these out as “Today I will… “ for each goal. For example, saying “Today I will make sales calls” is not a SMART goal but “Today I will make 10 sales calls to prospects who attended last Thursday’s webinar” is.
3. Using your smart phone (or other smart device) set up 3-4 automated task reminders, to run periodically through each working day, nudging you to check (a) what you are working on now and (b) to set (or focus on) your next SMART goal.
4. At the end of the two week period check in with yourself – overall do you feel that you have been more productive, less stressed and more engaged with work?

If you do try this out for yourself or your team, we’d be interested to see how it went and how you found it. Do get in touch to share your experience and if you have found other approaches that have been helpful we’d love to hear about those too - email enquiries@managingchange.org.uk or call 01223 655667.

For the full study see Nudging flow through ‘SMART’ goal setting to decrease stress, increase engagement, and increase performance at work, by Jared Weintraub, David Cassell and Thomas P. DePatie in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Special Issue Paper, 2021 

​For months now, talk about the “new normal” of life under lockdown and, more recently, semi-lockdown, has become commonplace. Whereas back in the spring and early summer attention was focused on employee well-being and the need to build resilience for those working from home, now the focus has switched to “getting back to the office”. While this is reasonable and desirable, in the process many companies now assume that with the “new normal” everyone has settled down and adjusted to this new way of working. This is no doubt fostered by the apparent reluctance of many people to get back to the office. Based upon our experiences with clients, this assumption is wrong and may lead to problems.

​In coaching sessions with clients at all seniority levels, we see a picture of people working with greatly increased workloads (managing projects and people remotely involves more work) in sub-optimal conditions. While many of us have enjoyed the advantages of a nice home office, not having to travel, as well as nice weather, many have not. 

​These conditions may not apply to you but they may be the reality for your colleagues: Take a moment to think of those who don’t have a spare room they can convert to an office or those working at home with a partner who also needs workspace. Throw in children who have been home schooled (or if younger, needed to be cared for and occupied while you work). Think of the broadband challenges presented with a family all trying to use the internet at the same time. Think of these challenges day in and day out. For five months.

​Sharing home space with partners who are also working from home has put a number of relationships under pressure – throwing in childcare challenges, has simply exacerbated them. A rise in family breakdown and domestic violence is real.  The summer is behind us, we’re told there may be a second lockdown, and many people face the real prospect of job losses. People are now at a really low ebb. This is not normal.  

​So, what can we do to help ourselves and our teams? Firstly, as team managers or HR professionals, we should recognise that many who may be struggling in this way will not share this information or ask for help. (At the same time we should recognise that many people won’t need help). So, ensuring a response that can be targeted to those who may be in need of support or at risk, enables more agile and cost-effective action. Depending upon the structures and culture in your organisation, support needs might be identified via surveys (see the Health and Safety Executive surveys or get in touch  with us for examples) or through team managers in their one-to-one meetings with team members. It is important to be aware of overreach or intrusiveness, so keeping this in mind it can be helpful to  guide managers to seek to understand the employee’s specific situation. Where the manager has concerns, asking specific, concrete questions is most effective, for example “what are you most concerned/stressed about with work at the moment?” or “how are you coping with project x/working from home/returning to work?”. Support should be offered but not insisted upon. 

​Providing targeted support with resilience programmes is a proven, effective response. For maximum impact, programmes which have a practical approach and refer to each person’s personal experiences at work are known to be most effective. Compared with all kinds of resilience training programmes, coached programmes, which allow time to deepen and embed new learning, are found to be around 3x more effective than standard training programmes at building lasting resilience.  

Finally, building and maintaining our own resilience is important too. Whilst it is not healthy or desirable to become self-obsessed it is important that we don’t ignore our own well-being. The PERMA model, a key component of positive psychology, provides a nice framework for building optimism and resilience:
​
P – positive emotions (fostering positive emotions such as cheerfulness)
E – engagement (spending time in activities in which we ‘lose’ ourselves – a state of flow)
R – relationships (connecting with other people)
M – meaning (connecting to a purpose greater than yourself)
A – achievement (mastering a skill, accomplishing things)

What could you do to enhance or develop one or more of these PERMA items in your life? 

As the government begins to ease the lengthy lockdown restrictions we are seeing mixed responses to it. Many people have been champing at the bit to get back to work for some time, while others are still reluctant.

In our previous survey we asked about people’s experiences of working from home under lockdown. This time, we asked people to tell us what has been positive about it and how they feel about the return to work. 

Everyone in our sample was currently working at home and around 75% had no plans to return to work at this time. For half of them this had been a wholly positive experience, and for the other half, a mixed one. Everyone reported that the positive benefits included:

• an increase in their quality of life
• happiness at seeing a cleaner, greener more natural world

They also reported benefitting from more time spent with their families, more time for their own personal development and reflection, and valuing the increased neighbourliness and community feeling that had developed.
 
We asked what changes, if any, people would like to make on their return based on this experience. All of them reported that they wished to work from home more frequently. 50% mentioned a desire to reduce their commute time, prioritise leisure activities, and spend more time with their family. A quarter wished to adopt a more flexible working pattern on their return in terms of hours.

How do people feel about going back to work?

This was quite a mixed picture, with around 50% apprehensive and not sure what to expect, a quarter looking forward to it, and the remainder not looking forward to it. The principal concern (of 66% of people) was having to adjust to new working practices due to Covid-19. A third of people indicated general anxiety about contracting Covid-19 at work or on their commute and another third indicated a general reluctance to return, mentioning that they had enjoyed working from home.

In a forthcoming article we’ll look at ways people can approach their return to work, and how employers could ease their employees’ return to work in light of their likely concerns.
 
The new world of work looks set to be rather different from the pre-Covid one. As companies look again at their need for office space, gearing up to facilitate freer and more flexible working patterns, and new technology to support social connection and creativity, change is inevitable. The unwitting experiment brought on by Covid-19 has revealed that productivity and creativity can be achieved, and that well-being matters. These will be features many people will not be willing to give up.  Social connection matters too and this promises to be a major feature of innovations in working life ahead of us.
 
In the shorter term, supporting people back to work should address the concerns commonly raised around control, safety and communication. We recently received this informative guide for employers (Creating a safe workplace during Covid-19) from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors. This is freely available so please do share it.

After a challenging ten weeks of lockdown all four nations within the UK are now setting out plans to return to the “new normal”.

During this time people have had widely different experiences: carrying on attending work in very different environments, working from home, being furloughed or being made redundant. For the last group, their transition to find a new role is likely to be the most difficult and challenging. For the others, the transitional period presents a new path to navigate.

As a leader your responsibility to facilitate that journey back is key. What should you be considering when you think about people leadership?

People will respond differently to the new situation just as they have responded differently to the lockdown itself and the associated changes to their work environments. Accordingly, they will have different needs and will respond to different levels and types of engagement. Some people are desperate to get back to normal and others are reluctant.

For example, many people are concerned about:

• the health and well-being of their families and themselves (if these are major concerns, they will be distracted and possibly anxious)
• job security (will the business or organisation survive or contract?)
• changes to working practices (will there be more constraints or processes? Will their role have changed materially? Will the workload or team have changed?)
• leaving the ‘safety bubble’ of being home for an extended period of time
• the safety of commuting to work and general travel
• going back to work before the children can go back to school

For others, this period has been a positive one. Many people have recognised or developed new strengths and attributes during this period which they have put to good use. Others have found working from home to be highly productive. They are likely to want to maintain these changes.  How can you ensure these are valued and supported?

In other words, in leading people back to work, effective leaders will recognise that people are different; they have had different experiences and have different needs. Understanding these, and responding appropriately to them, will lead to greater trust and engagement in you.

Communication therefore, as always, is key. Start by listening and understanding to gauge where your people are now. By starting where they are, you can shape more responsive and relevant communication to them.

Initiate dialogue and discussion: what has changed for your people? What are their concerns, hopes and challenges? What reassurance do they need?

Talking about what has changed, both within the organisation and for your people, is a good starting point. How are your people responding to these recent changes? This will have been a period of strong personal growth for some and major stress for others. Giving people an opportunity to be heard and to shape the ‘new normal’ is likely to lead to a productive transition. In our recent survey around 55% of people wanted to hear more frequently from their leaders - ideally a weekly communication. Weekly virtual check-ins and updates are an easy win and hugely valued where they happen. They are also an excellent opportunity for further engagement.

So, a valuable exercise to start now is to reflect on the changes, understand where your people are in their experience of it, and collaborate with them to create the new workplace. Even if your teams will be working at home or furloughed for some time yet, creating the new picture of the future will enhance your leadership effectiveness and the security and motivation of your people.

 
In a recent survey we asked people who have been working from home what the challenges have been. To see the summary results click here. If you are in a leadership role and would value a sounding board for these (or other) matters, do get in touch. Call us or email: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk

The last nine weeks have been a challenging time of uncertainty, isolation and anxiety. We have all had to adjust to new ways of living and working without knowing when this will all end and what life post-coronavirus will look like. 

For a lot of people, this means now working from home. This brings a different set of challenges, and we were curious about how people have experienced this situation and keen to understand how to best shape our coaching and support to help. A couple of weeks ago we asked people to tell us about their experience of working at home during the pandemic. 

What we found most interesting in the responses was that people were not overly challenged by technology or the logistics of working from home. What they did find particularly challenging were the more emotional aspects. We asked what respondents found to be the top 3 biggest challenges in working from home. Just 9% included poor internet connectivity as a problem. The top challenges were:
            1: general anxiety about the impact of coronavirus on my life (54% mentioned this)
            2: difficulties communicating with co-workers (45%)
          =3: social isolation (36%)
          =3: being motivated to keep a regular schedule (36%)

Others included:

• too many distractions at home
• childcare
• fear of the return to work

Interestingly, despite these being listed as common challenges, 91% of people considered that they could continue comfortably working from home with their current arrangements for three months or more. Given that the most commonly given concerns were job security, redundancy and the return to work, this is a curious finding. One possible interpretation is that the current lockdown situation has created a sense of psychological safety for people which might, for some, postpone having to confront the reality of the post-coronavirus world.  This is an area we'll be looking at further.

These have been fascinating insights for us to consider as we continue to develop our programmes to support people in the workplace. Specifically, we have shaped a new resilience programme to incorporate these findings, which we are particularly excited about.  The new programme will help people find strategies to bolster social connection, develop their realistic optimism responses and manage effective transitions to the world, post-coronavirus.
​
You can see the results of our survey here.

​Managing Change provide specialist coaching and development programmes in resilience and well-being throughout the UK. For more information about how we can help you support your people, do get in touch - e: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk or call us.

​If you would like to take part in the ongoing survey series or wish to share it, the link is here.  And we're always interested in your experiences, so please do leave your comments below.

A couple of weeks ago we sent out a survey asking for experiences of working under lockdown. This was to help us to ensure that our coaching and support efforts are directed to the right areas.

We've had a good response to date (136 responses as at 27 May). These are the findings so far:

We asked people how worried they are about the impact of Covid-19 on them personally. Over half (54%) said they are somewhat worried, with a further 18% saying they are very worried. 27% are either not so worried or not worried at all. 

The picture was less varied when we asked how worried people are about the impact of Covid-19 on their company/employer. Just 18% are not so worried while 45% are somewhat worried and 36% very worried. These concerns reasonably focus on longer term employment security.

The experience of working effectively from home for most people is largely smooth and easy. Our survey results indicate that less than a third (27%) find it somewhat difficult with the remainder finding it easy, very easy or neutral. Anecdotally, conversations with our coachees suggest that most have adjusted well, technologically, to remote working from home. We asked people for their top 3 biggest challenges working from home. 9% included poor internet connectivity as a problem. Otherwise, reported challenges all concerned non-tech matters:

     1: general anxiety about the impact of coronavirus on my life (54% mentioned this)
     2: difficulties communicating with co-workers (45%)
   =3: social isolation (36%)
   =3: being motivated to keep a regular schedule (36%)

Other challenges included:

• too many distractions at home
• childcare
• fear of the return to work
• brain fog and restlessness
• increased workload and working hours
• worry about the well-being of family members (e.g. older parents) 
• steep learning curve as everything goes online which slows productivity

​
Despite these common challenges, 91% of people considered that they could continue comfortably working from home with their current arrangements for three months or more. This was supported by responses indicating that 81% consider that their employer is providing them with the right resources and benefits to support them through this period.

Outside of the work environment, 100% of people indicated that their personal support network will support them though this period (with a broad split between somewhat, very and extremely confident).

This pandemic has provided a real-life stress test of company cultures, systems and processes. Conversations with our coachees have revealed some outstanding examples of communication, care and leadership. These examples have included leaders taking the time to communicate weekly, in person virtually, with all staff and providing assurances that they are supported, their jobs are secure and that they will be provided whatever resources they need. Anecdotally, several coachees have talked about how proud they are to be working for their companies and how relieved and engaged they now feel. In these cases, the pandemic has actually enhanced company loyalty and engagement. Other people's situations are less positive. Clearly such positive assurances are not possible for all companies, many of whom are facing uncertain futures. The frequency of communication however seems to be a key requirement: we asked how often people would like the leadership team to communicate how business difficulties would be handled in the current situation. Most (55%) said they would like weekly updates with just 27% preferring less frequent updates (18% would prefer more than weekly updates).

Just 9% of people responded that they are not so confident that their company's leadership team would make the right decisions to manage through this crisis (45% are extremely confident, with 18% very confident and 27% somewhat confident).

​Finally, we asked what the single greatest work-related concern is right now. Verbatim responses included:

• job security
• what the future will look like at work
• managing the return, which will be complex and not something my leadership team will be comfortable with
• keeping in touch with colleagues
• other people losing their jobs
• lack of physical social interaction
• technical issues with IT equipment 
• that my job will be seen as an unaffordable luxury and I will be made redundant
• the people we work with are not coping well and we are now delivering online so this means accepting about a quarter of our original community will not be engaging as they have no laptop etc. So it offers opportunity but also leaves people behind.

In summary, and as we might expect, for most people their principal concerns are:
- uncertainty about the future and fear of the unknown
- social disconnection

and to a lesser extent,
​
- finding effective and motivating working patterns and structures at home, while juggling busy workloads and childcare

​We have been amending existing programmes and developing new resilience programmes to support our clients during the coronavirus situation. These findings are being incorporated into these programmes, in particular in helping people find strategies to bolster social connection and to develop their realistic optimism responses. We will also be sharing some of these tips more widely so please do get in touch if you'd like to be added to our mailing list. In the meantime we hope that by sharing these findings employers, leaders and other coaches will find useful information to support their colleagues and clients.

​Managing Change provide specialist coaching and development programmes in resilience and well-being throughout the UK. For more information about how we can help you support your people, do get in touch - e: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk or call us.

​If you would like to take part in the ongoing survey series or wish to share it, the link is here.