Are you reliving the same day, over and over?
As we observe Groundhog Day, I can’t help but think of the classic 1993 comedy of the same name starring Bill Murray as weatherman Phil, who laments, “I’m reliving the same day, over and over.” The movie has become such a part of our cultural fabric over the past 30 years that I often hear colleagues and clients say, “It seems like Groundhog Day.” That’s especially true given three years of repetition for those of us who primarily work from home. I miss those spur-of-the-moment office interactions, whether it’s seeing an acquaintance in the hall, having an impromptu conversation or joining a teammate for an unplanned lunch. To break the cycle of every remote workday being much the same, I’m switching it up in2023 by intentionally connecting or reconnecting with people.
Driving greater connectedness
Our Resigility team actually began driving greater connectedness with each other a tour holiday party in December. Due to challenging schedules, we decided on a virtual gathering, with food and gifts sent in advance of the celebration. We started the party with just the team sharing favorite memories of childhood gifts, enabling us to learn a lot about each other’s formative years and gain new insights. Then we moved into a murder mystery of Jacob Marley, the ghost in “A Christmas Carol”who haunts Ebenezer Scrooge. Despite an actor playing the detective role and our significant others joining the fun, we all tried—yet failed—to correctly identifyMarley’s murderer. Nevertheless, we had a great time interacting and strengthening relationships in a unique way.
Creating new interpersonal connections
We’re also supporting a client to achieve the same outcome for employees who mostly work remotely.Even those who come into the office a couple of days a week may not see colleagues who work there on different days. The result: teammates may not have seen each other in person for two to three years!
To overcome the lack of face-to-face interaction, Resigility is capitalizing on the competitive nature of our government agency client by rolling out a multi-week game where employees earn points for connecting with each other. For example, team members can accrue points for engaging with a coworker or customer they’ve never talked to or using Microsoft Teams to share information. At the end, we’ll award prizes at both individual and group levels for those with the most points.We have high hopes that this contest will be embraced by an organization that loves games and thrives on competition, with the ultimate benefits of creating new interpersonal connections, increasing teamwork, encouraging cross-team collaboration and reinforcing other positive behaviors.
Groundhog Day just once a year
I hope this blog provides fodder for you to think about breaking the monotony in your own work world by making a concerted effort to connect or reconnect with those you haven’t seen in a while. Resigility is excited about the prospect of re-engaging within our team and with others, helping clients do the same and observingGroundhog Day just once a year on Feb. 2!
