Your Wellbeing

Being part of a flexible team can feel very different to being in one where everyone is consistently in the same place. As covered earlier, it can make people feel isolated and it can be harder to know what people are working on. Everyone needs to take account the following:

• How to create a productive and supportive work environment. This includes the provision of a suitable workstation and communication mechanisms to contact colleagues;
• Having appropriate communication and support channels, whilst avoiding meeting fatigue e.g., weekly team meetings to monitor work activity and co-ordinate service cover;
• Effective workload planning and management;
• Creating opportunities to share, learn and collaborate;
• Being able to meet client or customer needs;
• It is essential to plan and agree a work programme with the director(s), and colleagues to ensure suitable office cover is provided and equipment is available when needed;
• Having a clear desk policy and being able to separate work from home life;
• Regular 121s and check ins, with an equal focus on workload and wellbeing. Colleagues who are working remotely or across multiple sites, could well need more emotional support and opportunities to feel connected to the team;
• As it can be harder to pick up how a team member is feeling or coping with a situation when working remotely to your team, take time to ask how your colleagues are doing. If you think something is not right, and do not feel comfortable asking them yourself, then talk to you’re a director;
• Block out time in your day to plan ahead and also to catch up with your team. Small connections can make a huge difference;

Encourage your team to talk about issues or barriers they may be experiencing in getting the job done whilst working more flexibly. As a team you can solve most things!