<img class=”size-medium wp-image-36470 alignright” src=”https://testareaforcopy.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/workplace-1245776_1920-1-300×200.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”200″ />The temperature is miserably cold outdoors and the evenings too dark. It is lockdown for the third time since the beginning of this global pandemic and every day seems to roll into the next, with dreary Teams calls with all of those tram members that you used to sit at the coffee table with. The year seems to loom ahead of you and even though there are whispers of better times ahead with help from <a href=”https://www.verosa.co.uk/contact”>Verosa</a>, your morale feels like it is at rock bottom.
The post-Christmas low has been around for a long time, a lot longer than this global pandemic has. Reports on the month of January from the OK Office for National Statistics say that there is a 3 percent rise in depression for women and 5 percent rise for men – that was reported on before we hit the global pandemic and lockdown period.
<h2>Kindness Counts</h2>
When the times are challenging, receiving a <a href=”https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2020/03/covid-19-crisis-compassionate-leadership”>kind remark from a leader</a> can make a powerful impact. Being a leader, it is crucial to understand that you have the ability to positively change the environment in the team – even if you are not physically all together. It is also possible for you to have a negative impact on that same climate by thoughtless responses or snappy emails, especially related to work that someone has invested time and effort into.
Try to stop a few times each day and list several things that you are grateful for related to your work, your team, or the people you work with. Now it’s time to verbalise that gratitude. It has a big impact but does not need to be a long speech. Even a small word of thanks when someone has picked up a task that is out of their remit can give them an incredible boost.
Give yourself the same kind treatment. Do not go down that old route of feeling you are not good enough as it will soon rub off on other members of your team.
<h2>Get The Creative Juices Going</h2>
Provide the chance for the team to get involved in a task that will get those creative juices going, it will give them a distraction, be a form of therapy, and may even<a href=”https://www.samewave.com/posts/7-ways-to-improve-work-performance”> boost their performance levels</a>.
Providing an opportunity for employees to use the ‘right side of their brain’ (this is the side that relates to dreams, ideas, and art) can give thinking potential a boost in the right direction. One reason it does so is that being creative cuts down on the stress hormone cortisol in the body, this can act as a big blockage on the path to performance.
<h2>Have Something To Look Forward To</h2>
Morale can be boosted in a massive way when there is something to look plan for and anticipate – when this is a reward for a collaborative task it can be especially effective. Some organisations are considering rewards that can be enjoyed later in 2021 – hopefully in a world where we don’t hear about Covid all the time.
Monetary rewards are not the only option – a bank in Europe has lavished staff with an extra ‘bank holiday’ so they will have a little more time with the people they love.
<h2>Connect</h2>
When morale is low, the tiny things can make a big difference. Keep in mind things that you are aware of about the lives of employees and take the time to ask about them, this builds a good connection and gives evidence that you have a human side too.
In the same manner, be open with your own concerns and worries. For instance, a leader in a multi-national fintech openly talked to his team about how he found it hard to switch off, as well as how working at home with his family present was a challenge. Others in the team were struggling in the same way and now found a new way of feeling connected with their boss.