Written by Kelci Baez
Nutrition Graduate Assistant
After more than a year of isolation, many have reevaluated priorities in various aspects of their life. Health and wellness are areas that have become a priority of focus, and many are looking to either continue or re-establish healthy habits as they return to their physical office. One thing is for certain, with the return to normalcy, jumping into a new routine can feel difficult! Here are some tips on how you can help support coworkers and provide accountability in the office.
Define what accountability is needed
It is important to understand and define what accountability is needed for coworkers. Consider taking a poll or creating a shared dropbox to see what areas of wellness support are needed. You may identify areas such as nutrition, stress management, or taking wellness time. Whatever the challenges may be, remember it is important to know what the goal is that everyone is working towards. When collecting the information, consider having a way for people to submit their views anonymously. It can be vulnerable to ask for help and some may not feel comfortable initially.
Once you’ve identified the needs of your office, create an action plan that is going to help support the office health goals. First, consider smaller goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic (SMART) and that ultimately support the bigger health aspirations of the office. For example, let’s say that the ultimate office goal is to eat more healthfully at work. Smaller goals could be: for the month of August, everyone will set a number of times they will bring their lunch to work. At the end of the month, see who met their goal the most and the winner gets a prize!
Create an environment that supports the goals
A large part of accountability is simply having an environment that promotes the desired goals. If everyone is working together towards a goal (and maybe some friendly competition) the motivation can become an accountability measure in and of itself. Another aspect of a supportive environment is having accessibility to the goal. For example, if eating more healthfully is your central goal, it may be beneficial to consider other environmental stimuli that may be making an impact on your success. Perhaps encouraging a themed potluck rather than ordering a work lunch out could promote a more healthful choice. Examples of themed potlucks could be “favorite veggie dish”, “20-minute meal”, or “guess the healthy swap”. Regardless of what the goals are, having comradery and proactive support will help establish accountability.
Have check-ins
When setting goals consider how coworkers can have check-ins. Having check-ins are a great way for people to reflect and see how far they have come, and it gives everyone a chance to rejoin and reinvigorate in the challenge. Get creative with how everyone can check-in! Consider creating a social media page for people to share pictures of progress on a challenge. Or perhaps simply posting a goals list at the office that everyone checks off as they go.
Encourage growth
The more knowledge a person has about health, the more equipped they are to make lasting changes and achieve goals. So, when it comes to encouraging growth within your office space consider providing people with resources to reach those goals. This can be talking about wellness offerings through WellCats or Blue Cross Blue Shield. It could also be sharing videos or ted talks from experts in the field.
Celebrate WINS!
Creating environments that celebrate success is one of the greatest ways to boost morale and motivate others. A great way to celebrate wins is to create an opportunity for people to be able to acknowledge successes achieved throughout the week or month. This may include simple acknowledgements such as writing on a white board “I went for a walk 3 times this week”, or “I brought my water bottle for a month”. Even if the participants chose to post their wins anonymously, the celebration and accountability are still achieved.
As everyone is returning to work and with the fall semester about to kick-off, there may be some anxiety or trepidation around beginning a wellness journey. Adapting to new schedules and environmental changes can be difficult, so let’s use our greatest strength to achieve success, each other.
Led by wellness experts within our campus community, Wellcats is your FREE employee wellness program designed to help you improve your overall health and well-being. Visit the Wellcats website to learn more!