Lessons From the Pandemic: Part 2

Time to read: 1 minute, 8 seconds

My Covid campsite

I conducted a workshop last week as part of a 2-day virtual offsite to help a team reconnect, recover from a brutal year, and evaluate how they want to return to the office. When I asked people to share what they noticed about life during the pandemic, here's what they said:

"My kids enjoyed having more downtime."

"We didn't run around as much."

"My family wasn't over-scheduled."

"I enjoyed having quiet time in the evening."

As an über extrovert, people are my oxygen. During the pandemic, I had to introvert. I read a lot. Watched hours of TV. Gazed at my fish. Snuggled my dogs. Meditated. I took walks with friends, but the year was party-less, trip-less, and crowd-less.

When we could finally emerge, I was ready to par-ty!

Well, I thought I was ready to par-ty. My first few forays into the crowded world were fun in the moment and resulted in days of sleep and recovery from the noise. The pandemic taught me the value of quiet, downtime, and space alone. When activity was stripped away, the quiet that remained turned out to be great.

In the quiet, families reconnected. You may have discovered new hobbies or reignited your love of reading. Lots of people loved the time to cook at home and eat real meals. Game night replaced running from scheduled activity to scheduled activity.

As you plan your re-entry, consider how you will preserve the quiet you found during the pandemic. (For those of you with young children, the word "quiet" isn't quite right. Maybe a better word is slowing? Calm?)

If you want more strategies for re-entering life and work smoothly and effectively, download your copy of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work). It will help you decide what to keep and what to change.

Lessons From the Pandemic: Part 1

Time to read: less than one minute

In the olden days when meetings were moving online, I was facilitating a women's leadership training program for a big company. My group and I were enjoying a panel discussion with company leaders. On the screen, dogs barked, kids walked through, and there was much laughter about wearing sweatpants with a button down shirt.

During Corporate Rebel live events this year, we saw a dinosaur costume, crazy hats, tiaras, dogs, cats, ferrets and all kinds of dining tables, kitchen walls, and bedroom decor.

This year, we became more human to each other at work. Corporate life used to be defined by a separation between the office and home. Sure, you put plants and family photos in your cube. Sure, you have friends at the office. And how many of those people ever saw your dirty laundry draped over a chair or watched your toddler streak across the room during a meeting?

We may be happy to give up the streaking and barking dogs, but let's hang on to how we let ourselves be seen this year. The intimidating VP is less intimidating when her kid asks for homework help during a presentation. Your boss is more approachable when you know he's wearing pjs all day.

Although I wish the solution were PJs for Everyday! it is easy to keep the investment in our humanity at work.

Talk to people. Connect. Tell stories of your everyday messes, successes and failures. Be authentic. Other humans are the most important resource you have. Invest in them.

And maybe consider a pajama day at the office. For old times sake.

Get your free download of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work) right here. If you love it, please share it.

Your Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work)

Time to read: 43 seconds.
Time to download The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work): 10 seconds

My kids are cleaning their rooms. This seemed appropriate for today.

I ran into an old friend at the airport on my way to celebrate my college roommate's wedding. He talked about a year of difficulties hiring on Zoom and the awkward online team meetings devoid of casual side conversations and eating lunch together. He admitted he is both looking forward to and dreading the awkward return to in-person work in the fall.

Then he said: "There's no playbook for this stuff."

A lightbulb went off in my brain, and I thought: "Yes there is. I'm going to write it."

I spent the flight creating The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work) for you, your colleagues, bosses, workplaces, volunteer organizations and anyone and anyplace that is struggling with "re-entry anxiety" and uncertainty about how to return.

You can download a copy of this short ebook here. (e-pamphlet? e-whitepaper? e-essay? How many pages make something an ebook anyway? I digress.)

Please pass the link around to your friends and colleagues. They will also find the link to The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work) on my website at thecorporaterebel.com

I hope this helps.