Top Tips to Spring-Clean Your Team’s Wellbeing

Goodbye winter. Hello spring! Time to shake off the poor habits formed over the cold, dark months.

Dr. Phoebe Asquith, Lead Psychologist for Wellbeing Solutions & Senior Business Consultant at Sabio, outlines some of the poor wellbeing habits your team may have developed over the winter months – alongside ideas for getting them back on track to enjoy the warmer months ahead.

Common Winter Habits That Are Detrimental to Longer-Term Wellbeing

Everyone has their own way of getting through the winter months, but some of these newly formed habits can cause problems for your team in the long run if they become part of their staple routine.

Here are some common winter habits and behavioural patterns to look out for:

Neglecting Self-Care

Christmas can be a very busy period. It’s a time when many are stretched for time and tend to prioritize others’ needs over their own.

For example, focusing on the children and/or elderly relatives in their lives. Not to mention the additional planning and time needed to organize Christmas.

This can all take its toll if boundaries aren’t put in place and individuals don’t make time for self-care. This neglect can continue across the winter months, as people tumble back into the daily grind of the working week and forget to make time for themselves.

Overindulgence

Most people come out the other side of the Christmas period having had time to relax and unwind.

However, some may have got into unhealthy habits that are hard to break.

As the winter months persist, some continue with these behavioural patterns, for example overindulgence with food or alcohol, whilst others feel incredibly guilty and switch to a strict diet.

Neither is healthy in the long term, and some may need a helping hand to restore balance.

Too Much Time Inside

Over the winter months, the difficult weather means that people tend to go outside less. Even events and social activities tend to be inside, which can leave people feeling claustrophobic.

Staying indoors can be a hard habit to break, and some people struggle to get back outside – even when the weather improves.

Making time to get some fresh air is crucial to mental wellbeing, so make sure to support your team by suggesting group breaks, targets or events that get people outdoors and moving.

Making time to get some fresh air is crucial to mental wellbeing, so make sure to support your team by suggesting group breaks, targets or events that get people outdoors and moving.

Tight Budgeting

Budgeting over winter can be difficult. It can all add up and come January be hard for individuals to find their feet again.

It’s therefore common across the remaining winter months for people to cut down on social activities and spending to try and regain some control over their finances – even if it makes them feel down.

Aim to support team members with social support and activities at work to ensure colleagues don’t feel isolated.

How Do You Find Out If Your Team Are Struggling With These Habits?

Quite simply, talk to them regularly! Go for coffee, hijack a team huddle to discuss wellbeing, or get out of the office for a walk. All of these things will help you build a better picture of how your team are coping and how you can help.

5 Ways to Kick Bad Winter Habits and Make Way for Spring

If you feel your team are struggling with their wellbeing, here are some areas to focus on to help them spring-clean their habits.

1. Get Outside for a Change in Perspective

One of the biggest problems with staying inside is the impact it has on psychological distancing.

When we’re inside, our eyeline is restricted to within our four walls, so it is common to focus only on items close to us, such as our smartphones, TV, or sofa.

However, when we get outside, we look into the distance. By doing so, we metaphorically step back and change our perspective. Psychological distancing allows us space to think, rather than be enclosed in a limited space. It influences our ways of thinking, and it can broaden our horizons in our minds. It’s a really important reason to get outside.

Why not suggest your team take a morning or lunchtime walk, try a spot of gardening (either personally or as part of a local community project), or even walk or cycle to work.

2. Task Your Team With Mapping Out Their Habits

Some people get so swept up in taking care of the people around them that they sometimes need reminding to take care of themselves.

That’s why you should ask your team to map out their habits (repetitive tasks that make up their days). For example, waking up and having a cup of tea in the morning, watching the news, checking their phone, etc…

Once they have written these down, you can prompt them to think about why they do them and how they make them feel. This can then be a springboard to addressing any negatives.

2. Avoid Setting Radical Goals

Thinking about the future can help your team stay positive. Why not ask them about their ambitions and what they want to achieve this year? Just be careful they don’t overwhelm themselves with radical goals!

Thinking about the future can help your team stay positive

Instead, talk to your team about the highlights of last year and what they might like to change, or encourage them to break their goals into month-by-month achievable bites.

If they are keen to break habits or lead a healthier lifestyle, it can also help to reframe any changes to “just testing something out”.

For example, testing and trialling small changes, such as “just for tomorrow, I’m going to try to avoid chocolate and see how it goes.” – instead of “I’m never going to eat a chocolate bar again.”

3. Get to Grips With What Helps YOU Have a Better Day

Many people think of positivity as feeling happy all the time – but it’s not. It’s about being able to cope with your emotions (whatever they are) and see a way through them.

The key is to encourage them to be observant and think about what they can do to improve their own wellbeing. They could even write down some of the positive changes they can make.

Looking for some fun ideas to help liven up agent workstations in your contact centre? Read this article: 10 Ways to Personalize an Agent’s Desk

4. Introduce the Novelty Factor

Did you know? Novelty is energizing! It promotes positive activity in the brain. It is healthy to experience seeing different things and going somewhere different (such as a holiday destination).

This novelty factor can also translate into our day-to-day habits and behaviours. To bring in the novelty factor, why not encourage your team to try a new hobby?

You could even ask someone to come into the office to do a taster session. You could also try encouraging your team to connect with new people across the wider business, or walk a different route next time they head outside.

All of this can also help to boost your team members’ self-confidence and sense of productivity.

It can stop them from saying “I’m boring”, help them to feel that they are more vibrant and interesting people, and give them something positive to focus on when they reflect on how they’re spending their time.

If you are looking for some simple ideas to make things fun, read our article: Seven Simple Ideas to Bring Some Fun to Your Workplace

Thanks to Dr. Phoebe Asquith at Sabio for these great insights.

To discover more great information on promoting staff wellbeing, read these articles next:

• What Is Call Centre Agent Burnout and What Are the Signs?
• Employee Well-Being: How to Reduce Contact Centre Stress
• Don’t Let the Menopause Compromise Staff Retention in Your Contact Centre

Author: Robyn Coppell