Do you feel the adrenaline racing through your body, your heart pounding and your head buzzing? Do you get the feeling that the days are too short and your to-do list too long? Then it is high time to bring focus to your work. At events agency D&B Eventmarketing, Josine Verbeek grew from event manager to operations director and managing director. Eventinspiration She explains why focus and rhythm are so important for work engagement and top performance, and how to bring them to your team.
When people work from home a lot or in different places, a team's rhythm can disappear without anyone noticing. "Employees feel less connected or find it hard to keep work and private life separate. When the focus is gone and the rhythm is disrupted, that has a big effect on team performance," says Josine.
Calm and regularity
People need rituals that create calm and rhythm. Recurring rituals give structure and make sure we know where we are. "Think of personal rituals, such as having breakfast with your family every morning, team rituals, such as a weekly meeting, and organisational rituals, such as quarterly sessions or a kick-off."
If you work hybrid, you have to consciously reshape those rituals. "A creative session, a staff party or a difficult HR conversation is a completely different thing online." So choose consciously which moments you organise together on location and which can easily be done online. That well-organised hybrid working pays off is shown by a large experiment at a technology company with 1,612 employees. Two days a week working from home led to more job satisfaction and a third fewer people leaving, without performance suffering. Bloom et al.
Shift the focus when needed
When circumstances suddenly change, the focus often shifts to the short term. That is logical, but make sure you find a new rhythm afterwards. "Good communication and switching quickly with each other make sure everything works out. When you have the wind in your sails again, that gives an enormous kick."
Create a new rhythm
Changes put noticeable pressure on teams. "By keeping the situation open for discussion and constantly analysing and improving your work processes, you keep it workable for everyone." So adapt your meeting rhythm to what the team needs at that moment, and focus on a point on the horizon. "A point, not 'the' point," Josine adds. "Because that point might well look different."
Give employees room
"As a manager, your role is to support," Josine believes. "Leave people free to find their own rhythm, but always keep your finger on the pulse. It is precisely the people you don't hear from that you need to keep an eye on. Look together at whether it can be done differently or better. Video calling all the time doesn't work best for me, for example. When I just phone, I can concentrate better. And I like to go for a walk while I'm on the phone to come up with new ideas."
Be deliberate about your time
Does tension build up anyway? Then take the time to step back, focus and plan well. "Colleagues sometimes say they don't have time for that, but then I impress on them that this investment actually saves time. By separating main issues from side issues and setting priorities, you can focus again. That brings calm and increases your engagement."
The risk of unclear goals is that you put tasks off more easily and let yourself be distracted by the issues of the day. "As a result, you get less satisfaction from your work and are less successful. Repetition, on the other hand, makes sure you learn and perform. That is why it is so important to build in daily rhythms." You can read more tips in focus for professionals.
Connect and follow up
Precisely when team members don't sit together every day, it is important to keep everyone involved. That is why D&B Eventmarketing regularly held a short moment of reflection: how is everyone doing and what hurdles need to be cleared this week? "It is very important to bring people in on time and to follow up after a meeting. That way you make sure people take their responsibility and deadlines are met. And that in turn is crucial for your team members' engagement!"
Gallup also advises managers to have one meaningful coaching conversation with each team member every week. It doesn't have to take long and can also be done by phone or online. Gallup
