Like most things these days, we can find a connection to life with Coronavirus.  Thousands of years later, masks have become a way of life.  Do they make us feel safe?  Or do they heighten our anxiety?  Don’t leave home without one.  Wear them in indoor public places, wear them in public outdoor spaces, this week I’ve read that we should think about wearing them in our own homes, and yes, even to bed!

But what about emotional masks – the ones we hide behind because of our own feelings of inadequacy.  If we’re insecure, we might hide behind the mask of name-dropping.  If we’re unsure of our ability, we can hide behind the mask of bullying.  If we don’t think the world loves us, we can hide behind a mask of aggression.  We mask the debt we’ve incurred to pay for lifestyles beyond our reach; we act as though things are fine at work when our jobs are on the line; we pretend things are okay in our relationships when communication has broken down.

And what about the workplace – the psychological masks we wear for fear of people finding us out?  I always thought that Imposter Syndrome was something you spotted in others, someone who you feel is operating beyond their ability, empty vessels making lots of noise.  But no – it’s something we impose on ourselves – feeling like a fake… that we don’t really belong… that we aren’t as successful as we lead people to believe we are?  Just reading that sentence, can you imagine the pressure this puts on people?

As we go into another national lockdown, the effect on our mental health of months of limited contact with family and friends, seemingly endless months of working from home, and “just” grappling with the great unknown, can’t be ignored.   Patience is wearing thin.  Tempers are fraying.  Paranoia is heightened.  People are vying for airtime – not being seen is being compensated for by being heard.  Are those workplace masks beginning to slip?

Perhaps now’s the time that we give ourselves a bit of a break and rip those masks off.  Here are just three reasons why:

Be yourself…  We all bring a bit of who we are to what we do.  Yes – there are people with the same skillset, and yes – some may do the job better.  But nobody brings the same approach, personality, creativity and spirit to the job.  Masking the bit of us that makes us unique might be taking away our greatest potential.

Be yourself… It must surely be exhausting to pretend to be someone you’re not – putting a mask on for an hour, swapping it for another one, changing it again to talk to a different person.  We might even end up with several on at the same time!  At what point does who you pretend you are start blurring with who you really are?  And when it comes down to it, will persona win over personality?

Be yourself… We weren’t born with masks. We put them on, so we can take them off.  What’ll happen if you stop pretending to be this, that, the other?  Chances are you decided you needed to alter your behaviour, so the answer to that is “probably nothing”.  Challenge yourself to revisit those negative – and especially the self-imposed – thoughts.

So – to square the circle – has Covid-19 brought a change in the role of masks?  Rather than setting us apart, doesn’t it make us feel part of a “club” – one that sees us all working together to keep each other safe?

Maybe it’s time for an authentic leadership revolution – one where we take our self-inflicted masks off.  As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken”.

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Many in the world of organisational behaviour and psychology have tried to analyse and establish the origin of this new phenomenon!  Here’s my attempt at distilling it all down to three main areas:

Head, shoulders… no knees, no toes – we’re only seeing about 20% of a person, meaning that we have to concentrate harder than we realise to make up for the lack of crucial non-verbal cues, from body language and more discreet movements, through to waving our hands around to make a point, that we get in a face to face meeting.  Even more concentration is needed to ensure that those who are naturally quieter and reflective don’t disappear in a sea of faces, and it’s all too easy to underestimate the drain on our energy in keeping a meeting going through troughs of silence.  And of course, the bit of the person that we see is causing a new-found source of stress as we turn our videos on, fiddle with our fringes, check our roots, and generally try to make our lock-down hair look acceptable.

Error 404 – perhaps one of the most frustrating things about zooming is an unstable internet connection causing time lags (like a really cheap movie where image and sound are out of sync), frozen screens (usually at the most unflattering moment), and dropping out of a call all together (allegedly).  It’s certainly true in my case that people management requires a completely different skill set to anything vaguely tech related, and that, in itself, compounds the problem – though I’m proud that to date, I’ve only “lost” one person, trying to get people out of a break-out room.  Along with new technology, we’ve also had learn a whole new world of comms and meetings etiquette.

Get back in the room – I’m sure you’ll all have your own answer to this equation…

6^th zoom of the day + hour long agenda + 15 delegates + death by powerpoint = ??

What might ordinarily be a routine meeting becomes more testing in a virtual world.  Have you resisted the temptation of half-listening while scrolling through Facebook or clearing out your emails?  Or worse – are you wired for sound but actually nowhere near your desk?  We’ve seen people hang out washing, make bread, and bounce around on an exercise ball.  If you’re not fully engaged, you can’t fully contribute, the meeting will, inevitably drag, and your performance and efficiency will dip as you miss key discussions and actions.

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10 weeks in, I hit the Covid-wall.  As I shared a few weeks ago, I’m a home-worker.  I try to follow the advice I dole out – be disciplined, set boundaries, stay connected – it’s worked for me for many many years.  So what’s different now?

Maybe it’s a build-up of the “same but different” challenges that we face on a personal level… Caring for elderly parents, health concerns (self and/or others), juggling working from home with home-schooling, living with – or forced apart from – keyworkers, months of not being able to see family and friends.

Maybe it’s a natural reaction to 3 months of adapting, refocusing, and reinventing plans at full speed… Are we giving members the support they need or want?  Are we overloading them?  Do they want MORE corona/furlough webinars?  Do we need to be more innovative and think about different strategies and techniques to adapt to THEIR new normal?  How best can we facilitate the crucial discussions that we all need to have as we plan for a return to the workplace?

Or is it the ongoing fear, uncertainty and anxiety caused by this new phenomenon which finds us grappling with seemingly endless information that comes our way, sometimes literally overnight, stopping us from working through the well-known phases of a change cycle.

Whatever the reason, I think the answer lies in self-care, and the three tips I set out earlier stand true:

For “be disciplined”, read “starve the stress” – eat healthily, drink plenty, exercise daily and b-r-e-a-t-h-e deeply!

For “set boundaries”, read “get off the treadmill” – take a break, limit zoom calls (or any calls, for that matter!)

For “stay connected”, read… well… “stay connected” – with friends, family, colleagues – we’re going through a shared experience, that means sharing the good and the less good, and taking time to look out for each other.

Thankfully it was temporary blip and I’m back on track!  Which is just as well, as I have a busy month coming up ahead.

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In a typical day, desk-time would be very early in the morning before I hit the road, or in the evening when I got back, but great for me to balance caring responsibilities for my elderly mother – daily routines, meals, hospital appointments – which was, and still is, invaluable.

To help those of you still adapting to a new way of working, here are a few of my top tips to help you along the way:

Be disciplined!

In the beginning, it was all a bit of a novelty. But believe me, the lure of daytime TV or Netflix wears off very quickly!

Set a schedule and try to keep to it. I have a to-do list that stretches over five pages, it isn’t just work, it’s a bit of everything. I review it at the end of each day, flagging up what I want to achieve by the end of the following day. At the end of each week, I review how far I’ve come this week and assess my goals for the upcoming week.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) advocates flexible working, but it’s important to recognise the true meaning of ‘working flexibly’ which is working outside of your “normal” (in terms of working hours and location). Working flexibly does not mean working your normal hours and all the other hours in between. It’s easy to lose track of time when working from home but it’s important to take breaks – for a cuppa, meals and fresh air just as you would if you were in an office.

Set boundaries

When I first set up my business one of my neighbours thought that we could be “ladies that lunch” every day of the week. My uncle would “pop in for a cuppa” while out walking the dog.  So, it’s important to set boundaries – for yourself and others. We went through a stage of having an ornament in the window if I was working… a bit like Buckingham Palace flying the Royal Standard when HRH is at home!

I’m fortunate that I have a dedicated office in the house. People know that if I’m in that room, I’m working. Not everyone will have this luxury, but I think it’s important that you identify a dedicated workspace rather than a random space on the kitchen table or propped up in bed.

Get dressed

From the very start of my home-working career, I decided that this is an absolute essential! I don’t mean the full-blown suit, shoulder pads and stilettos, just not PJs or your favourite fluffy dressing gown.

My other tip for newbie home-workers – particularly as we find ourselves in lock-down with well stocked kitchens – is to reach for an item of clothing with a fixed waistband now and again… you know what I’m saying?!

Keep in touch

Speaking to each other very regularly for both work and general catch ups is so important for  building  strong relationships as they help you to identify when a team member is having an ‘off’ day or is really struggling.

As many of you move to join us in what may seem like a strange new world, it’s important to stay in touch and find ways to maintain much-needed contact with the outside world. Technology is great but don’t depend entirely on-screen time with colleagues.

It’s not going to be a way of working that suits everybody, but it’s only temporary, so let’s try and make the most of it. Use the time to develop relationships in different ways and look forward to the party-to-beat-all-parties when we’re finally “let out”!

In the meantime, I make a mean virtual coffee if anyone wants one!

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There’s also another team of unsung heroes behind the scenes – the HR teams that are working hard across Wales to keep workers safe, paid and supported to do their best in these challenging times.

The crisis is a huge test for business agility and is bringing new meaning to the idea of ‘good work’ that the CIPD has been supporting for so long. We have seen huge numbers of people working from home for the first time, changing shift patterns to accommodate childcare responsibilities and even re-skilling to fill essential roles. Employers are beginning to look at outputs and delivery rather than ‘time spent’ and the culture of presenteeism evident in so many workplaces is being overshadowed.

Over a week into government lockdown, many of us are asking ‘Is this the new normal?’

The social and economic impact of this outbreak will be felt for months, probably even years. In terms of the people management industry, there will be a legacy of positive actions that government and employers have made that will change working lives for the better.

If any time was going to refocus our attention on the ‘people’ that make up our workforces, it is this. This is a wakeup call for businesses across the country to put people’s health, well-being, families and financial security first.

Wales as a nation is geographically spread out, there are people who travel huge distances to get to work each day. There is also the Cardiff bias that exists for so many businesses with colleagues from across the country having to make the long trip to the capital for meetings and events. Will this all change post Coronavirus as businesses wake up to the fact that so much can be done effectively remotely and that if you remove the stressful commute from an employees’ day, they actually become more productive?

In rationing this time spent in work, people will come to value the time they physically spend with colleagues more. Time management will improve, and people will value the contribution of others so much more.

This is an opportunity for the HR profession, business and society to prove what we’re made of and where our priorities lie. It’s vital we all play our part to minimise the impact of this global event on work and working lives – and maximise any positive legacy it could leave.  Placing trust in the HR profession’s insights and expertise is more important than ever.

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