As we look forward to spring, the relaxation of rules and return of some freedoms, there is a sense we’re on the home strait towards the lives we knew. Many aspects will surely return with time (and vaccines), but some are inevitably changed for good. The pros and cons of flexible working will still be debated, but there is a financial reality that many businesses have limped through a difficult year, and office space now presents a simple opportunity to cut costs, if it hasn’t already been relinquished.

Home working without doubt has advantages, few miss the grind and cost of the daily commute, productivity is higher, and efficiencies gained tackling work/life admin. Inevitably challenges are posed too; maintaining boundaries of work/life balance of our time and physical space, communication and collaboration must be planned, provision of IT support and office equipment inefficient, and the critical yet complex aspect of mental health and wellbeing has yet to be addressed as a long-term reality.

The impromptu comment at the start of a meeting, coffee machine chat, or gaze out of the window can all be telling indicators of other factors of our lives. Assessing a person’s state of being is infinitely harder on a 2-D screen. The last year has also exposed a critical gap in our focus and investment in physical over mental health.

Investment in our people will need to change, and at every level of seniority. If we assume younger employees may struggle with isolation and the chaos of working in a house share, parents have no separation (or escape!) from the school day routine and may crave the relative calm of an office. Let alone motivation, collaboration, inspiring innovation and maintaining stimulation without the given of human interaction, all circumstances requiring individual investment and care.

Coaching has the possibility to address this range of scenarios, supporting the individual, even as a team intervention to help maintain a sense of collective. Providing a dedicated and safe space for people to talk, recognise and overcome barriers, surface their competencies, focus forward on goals and strategies, and most importantly for the circumstances, build resilience and confidence. All require an individual conversation for the individual to flourish, and a re-setting of and re-investment in personal development after a year of survival.