In our recent department's online engagement session to kick off 2021, we decided to kickstart the session with an ice-breaking session: Members of the floor to share "What am I grateful for about 2020": professionally and personally.
The idea was a to break the ice with an authentic friendly conversation and to start off the year on a positive and inspiring note by motivating each other, especially on things which we didn't realize we took for granted.
Admittedly, it was a risky move on our part, as organizers. Because our department & regional satellite office unit was only formed last year during the MCO, most of us have never met each other face-to-face, and there may be a reluctance to share personal matters with colleagues we barely know, made more challenging by the reduced presence of human touch because it is done 100% online, especially when most participants do not switch on their webcams. It could easily have backfired with the awkward sound of silence, and ended up being an embarrassing personal experience for me as the MC for the event.
But I remembered a quote that said, "if it scares you, it is a sign that you SHOULD do it"
So, we took the plunge and embraced the potential awkward silence.
To our pleasant surprise, we got some amazing input from our colleagues and bosses! Here are some notable highlights:
1. MAD NEW SKILLZ: People are grateful that they picked up lots of new skills; quite a few people have picked up gardening. Mrs D picked up hairdressing and learnt to cut her husband's hair. Personally, I am grateful to master the skill of effective grocery shopping!
2. EXERCISE: Haji H shared that he FINALLY managed to start a habit which he always wanted to do but procrastinated: Regular exercise! To make is sustainable, he started off by taking slow, take short walks every day outside of his house every day, gradually ramping it up and increasing the challenge. He also said that there were so many amazing mental health benefits to it too, which he did not expect. He says, "we hear people talk about it all the time, but when we actually DO it, now we really FEEL it. And it'sgreat"
3. FAMILY: Many are so grateful we can be together with our loved ones, working from home. Mr N shared, on behalf of the weekend husbands that it's such a relief from the constant weekend travelling. Mr L can FINALLY spend quality time with his infant son who just turned 2 years old, and able to be present throughout this beautiful infant-toddler transition age.
4. HEALTH: Surprisingly, quite a few people have remarked that staying at home enabled them to eat healthy, and they actually LOST weight! One of our bosses, Haji R said that his recent medical health check showed significant improvement with reductions in cholesterol and fatty liver readings, especially that he started running since MCO and managed to achieve Stage-4 in the treadmill test.
5. CHILDREN'S EDUCATION: Despite having children go through the challenge of learning online, Mrs. I remarked that since the MCO online learning arrangement, it enabled teachers to have a closer relationship with their parents, allowing a more seamless feedback exchange for the development of their kids. Previously, this feedback exchange only happens once a year (report card day).
6. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY - As Mr. R remarked, the MCO enabled our organization and software developers worldwide to ramp up the digital tools to allow for a smooth working-from-home experience. Previously, many traditionally oriented bosses were very reluctant about this #WorkFromHome thingy with a lot of trust issues. And with this pandemic, it completely flipped the script leaving us with no choice, but to much surprise, working online proved that in certain cases, some teams are MORE efficient. Mrs C remarked how this digital thingy enabled her to get so much done in such a short time, and 2020 became the best year of multiple achievements for her!
7. AWESOME COLLEAGUES - Further dispelling the scepticism of the Work-from-home mistrust, it was interesting that several team members remarked how grateful and impressed they are with the level of teamwork shown by their colleagues, some of whom they just met, whom are so cooperative and resourceful that they just hit the ground running and make things work.
On top of that, quite a few team members got married, our boss had twins. And there’s so many more, alhamdulillah. Wished we could keep going but we had to stick to the agenda and move forward!
Nevertheless, all in all, it was a great exercise and the risk certainly paid off. We got the meeting to start off on a motivating, positive note, and warmed up the team and meeting atmosphere nicely before we transitioned to the challenging stuff: the “Speak Up!” feedback exchange sessions.
Perhaps this can be a useful idea for you to consider implementing at your workplace too! “Be the change you want to see in the world” – Gandhi
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ
And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks, I will add MORE!
But if you are ungrateful, verily! My Punishment is indeed severe." (Surah Ibrahim, 14:7)
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said:
مَا أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَى عَبْدٍ نِعْمَةً فَقَالَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ إِلَّا كَانَ الَّذِي أَعْطَاهُ أَفْضَلَ مِمَّا أَخَذَ
“Whenever Allah bestows a blessing upon a slave, and he says: “Alhamdulillah” (All praises to Allah), He grants what is better than that!” (Ibnu Majah)
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