by Darren Caveney
It’s clear now that autumn/winter is going to carry on in the same vein as most of the rest of 2020. Long hours, working from home, increased meetings and emails, raised expectations, and a ‘to do’ list which just won’t go away.
It’s a risk to our mental health and wellbeing.
So, what’s the best way of managing a risk? Well ideally, removing the risk. But that isn’t practical for teams right now.
The second best option, then, is to reduce the risk.
Even if your team only manages three or four of these suggestions it may improve your situations by 10 or 15%. That has to be worth a shot?
A wellbeing checklist for your team
I recently joined a video team meeting with a very busy comms team.
The first half of the session focussed on strategy and prioritisation. That was sensible and helpful – reviewing workloads and demand. Focussing on the most important work is of course always important. But right now it’s become vital.
We talked about resources and processes too to see where precious time and skills was best placed, and where processes could be refined to speed up work and strip back blockages.
The second half of the team meet was to check in with the team’s mental health and wellbeing.
No prizes for guessing that were feeling a bit worn out. Really proud of their efforts and achievements. But a bit battered and bruised. Because let’s be honest it’s been relentless for comms teams hasn’t it.
I suggested a list of WELLBEING actions and hazards to check in on as a whole team. Even if the organisation doesn’t work to them, the team can and, in the process, set a good example and safeguard each other a little.
So, here’s the 9-point team wellbeing checklist which may come in handy for you too.
Walk. One of the greatest things we can do is go for a lunchtime walk. It can become a useful and healthy habit. You may prefer to do it first thing. You may prefer it as a way of unwinding at the end of the day. But a daily work has multiple health benefits. If you have a local greenspace nearby head there. Leave you phone at home though. You’ll be tempted to look at it otherwise - the idea is to unplug and spend some time away from screens.
Emails. Don’t send emails after 6pm at night unless it’s a genuine emergency. There’s clear evidence that the more emails we send, the more emails we receive. It can be a vicious circle but we can reduce it by changing our own behaviours. And, unless you’re covering out of hours duty, try not to look at your work emails after 6pm too. It’s impossible to fully switch off if we’re checking our inboxes. Your families and loved ones need a little bit of you too so don’t let you them play second fiddle in your own time.
Look at the clock. Typically you’ll be contracted for 37 hours or thereabouts if you’re full time. But how many hours are you clocking each week at home? When I set up my own consultancy nearly six years ago I noticed that, whilst I enjoyed working from home, my working hours shot up. The boundaries can be really fuzzy. It’s easy to be ‘always on. Make a note of your hours individually and collectively and report them back in your monthly comms reports. Senior leaders need to know the workloads and pressures and it may help them understand better why you’re trying to push them for clearer priorities if they see what you.re experiencing in black and white.
Lunch. Do you have a break every day? Not a rushed sandwich in between Zoom and Teams meetings. A proper 30 minute break. Have a rota across the team – one half doing 12-12.30, the other half doing 12.30-1pm. It’s not a lot to ask. And block them out in your diaries and resist them being swallowed up by meeting requests.
Breathing. Saranne Postans taught this technique at Comms Unplugged - 7/11 breathing. Breathe in for the count of 7. Breathe out for the count of 11. Close your eyes as you do it if you can. Do for 1-2 minutes. It’s amazing how something so simple really can calm you. Try it before and after a full on video call, or after a testing phone call or email exchange.
End of day habits. Come off social media by 9pm. Especially Facebook, and especially if you work on social media in your day job. If you want a better night’s sleep switch all screens off at 9pm. That pesky blue light which our screens emit is thought to impact us negatively for around 90 minutes AFTER switching off. So if you want to be asleep by 10.30pm then ending your screen use by 9pm will be a big help.
Identify shared rota options. For larger teams with the option to spread the load make sure everyone is helping out. It can all to easily fall to the comms lead or a media or social media officer. The more people on the rota the less you’ll have to be on call. It’s an obvious one but often gets overlooked.
No team meetings or video calls longer than 30 mins. Try really hard to limit the time you spend on them. You can do an awful lot together in 30 mins. Have - in advance - simple agendas and agreed outcomes for each meeting. Long video meetings stacked up each day are not only tiring but they are massively reducing the time you have left to think, be creative and get through your to do lists.
Gin o’ clock. It’s a tempting option at the end of another tough day, and we’ve all done it. But at the risk of sounding preachy it’s not the answer. As a treat it’s a lovely thing to do to unwind on a Friday evening. When if it becomes a regular habit and reaction to hard days it’s a warning sign of a potential mental health issue. Keep a record of your drinking (and calories reduced and £s saved) by downloading and using the Dry January app. Research shows that it can help our performance when we keep a visible record of it. Give it a try and set some realistic targets for enjoying a tipple.
This isn’t a magic wand. Following the checklist a little or a lot won’t change the world. But even a small impact can have a positive effect on you all.
Give it a go. Create your own version. Or, if you already have one share yours via @comms2point0 so others can benefit too.
