5 ways to re-connect and re-energise your team

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For over six months the majority of us have spent more time working in front of our computers at home, witnessed a large increase in restructures and redundancies, felt increased pressure and lacked support, for these and so many other reasons, there’s a fairly high likelihood that you and your team are feeling a little low right now.  When combined with loneliness, something one in four Australians experience (a statistic that is mirrored across the globe) you have a ticking time bomb that among many things is driving poor performance and increased business costs.

In 2017 loneliness cost UK employers £2.5 billion (AUD$4.5 billion) per year and shows up in our working lives in a similar way to low morale and lack of energy.  While everyone is different, some key behaviours to be mindful of, in yourself and your colleagues, include: 

  • Reduced creativity

  • Less clarity

  • Poor decision making

  • Increased emotional stress

  • Increased physical stress

  • Poor relationships

  • Withdrawn – from contributing as well as interpersonal interactions

At the core of all these feelings is connection, a basic instinct that put simply means when we or someone we know is feeling lonely or low in morale or energy, it’s the body saying it needs to re-connect.

Feeling connected with others in (and out) of our working lives drives peak performance, success, and overall wellbeing.  The most effective starting places to focus on when it comes to cultivating a culture of connection is interpersonal relationships.  Here are five ideas that will support your everyday practices to re-connect, re-energise and unite your team:  

1.     Authentic conversations – that aren’t always about work

2.     Random act of kindness – such as a personalised surprise in the mail, relevant for each individual

3.     Start your team meetings with a Wellineux connection card

4.     Incorporate a weekly wellbeing practise into your culture – such as Monday meditation sessions to feel good Fridays, where you could rotate wellbeing initiatives

5.     Buddy up – from professional mentors to workplace allies, encourage and make it easy for your team members to have at least one person who they can call on to debrief, gain a new perspective, and support their state of mind.

While we are connecting online more than ever, it’s important to remember that it’s not the quantity but rather the quality of our connecting that requires our attention.  If everyone in your team, let alone organisation, focused on one authentic small and simple act each day that strengthened interpersonal relationships, the ripple effect on peak performance and wellbeing would be powerful.