What were once relaxing activities– grabbing a bite with your friends, or going to the gym– now have strict limitations and high risk factors. The office is no different. Employers are doing their very best to keep their teams safe and productive. Another crucial task to keep in mind is maintaining staff morale. It’s an overwhelming & tumultuous time as everyone adjusts to the new normal in their own way, at their own pace. Supporting each other will have unprecedented benefits for your organisation, your professional development as well as your personal development.
Respect
Emotional Intelligence is becoming more and more important in business. In an office job, you spend a majority of your day with your coworkers, whether it’s collaborating on projects, working events together or enjoying breaks together. Being empathetic communicates to your colleagues that you respect them! Mutual appreciation can not only improve your relationships, but also the quality of your work and work environment.
Communication
Understanding the other person’s viewpoint is a pivotal, but often neglected, part of communication. In PR, we are always stepping into our target audiences’ shoes when tailoring strategies that best reach & resonate with them. In our careers, a large chunk of time is spent on clarifying misunderstandings, or amending work where the instructions were misinterpreted. When you deliver a message that fits your conversation partner’s frame of reference, there is a significantly smaller chance of miscommunication.
Productivity
Another major stressor is stress. It not only makes completing your tasks difficult, but also communicating with your teammates. When a whole group of people are emotionally overtaxed, it creates a negative environment that is not conducive to generating good results. Validating your anxiety about the new normal, and that of those around you will create a world of difference in productivity levels.
Personal Development
When you work on becoming more conscious of the energy around you, you are simultaneously developing your problem solving abilities. Both of those skills happen in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. The advantages can translate from your relationships with your colleagues to those with your family, friends, sport mates, and pets. What’s most important, though, is your relationship with yourself. Being in tune with your emotions is the core of operating at 100% capacity.
