Since March 2020, a lot has had to change in our teams and workplaces. You may be working permanently in your home office, or the size or composition of your team may have changed. Even your role may be tweaked to weather the pandemic. So it’s perfectly normal to feel a little overwhelmed or lost compared to your situation over a year ago. To help, we’re sharing our insights.
Bring Your Whole Self to Work
You need to know who you are and understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie. In addition, you also need to ensure that you continue to bring the unique aspects of your personality to work. Many of us have seen different aspects of each other’s personal lives in recent months. Whether it’s a beloved pet or an expensive souvenir on the fridge door in the background of a video call, these glimpses of colleagues’ personalities acted as a bridge that brought us closer together. As many of us move back to the office, we need to continue to engage with these personal aspects. The personal and the professional have now merged forever, so having the confidence to show your authentic self is essential to thriving in your role.
Develop Essential Traits
If you feel a little lost, it may be wise to focus on developing the essential qualities for you to succeed in your role. For recruiters, in addition to being authentic in all your interactions, resilience is also necessary. We’ve all experienced having a bad day or week at work. In the long run, the successful ones are those who can get back up after a fall. Chances are, once you’ve overcome the difficulties of the past year, you’ll have more than enough perseverance.
Another important trait for many is emotional intelligence (EQ) or the ability to manage your emotions positively for yourself and others. This can be developed over time through a variety of exercises, courses and videos available online. However, a certain level of self-reflection is needed to start the journey. Ask yourself: how do you communicate? How do you deal with criticism? How do you deal with criticism and how do you deal with criticism? You will also communicate more effectively with your clients, which is crucial to building relationships.
Recognize the Importance of Sponsors, Networks and Mentors
If you’ve ever considered turning to others in your career, now is a great time to do so. You can do this by joining a network or developing a relationship with a mentor or sponsor. Networking is useful because it allows you to connect with your peers. It’s also a good idea to check social media to see which virtual networks you can join.
Creating a relationship with a sponsor is different from being a network member because they can use their influence and power to further your career. Your manager will most probably be your sponsor at work, so it’s vital to be open with them about your future aspirations. They should be prepared to draw up a roadmap to help you get to where you want to be and therefore be vocal in their support of your next training opportunity or promotion.
Maintain Positive Mental Health and Well-Being
Some days might be more stressful than others. While these moments are mostly unavoidable, you should try to protect your personal time as best you can. After all, a healthy work-life balance is the key to well-being. One way to do this is to treat your personal commitments with the same respect you would treat your work commitments. When you talk openly to your team about your personal commitments, you encourage others to do the same and earn respect at work for maintaining the important aspects of your personal life.
The pandemic may have felt like a pause in your career (or in some cases a step backwards), but work patterns are now changing and you should be able to get back on your feet.
Let us know in the comment section below about your tips to succeed at work, post-pandemic.
