From a number of conversations that I have had with people since the start of lockdown, the announcement brought about a mixture of emotions. Understandably, there were the inevitable concerns about jobs, while those who felt more secure were often unsure how they would be able to work from home; others saw an exciting opportunity... the chance for 'personal improvement'.

I was one of these people; the reality of being (largely) confined to my house for the foreseeable future immediately struck me as being an opportunity, rather than something to fear, and I opted to try to learn something new... actually, I chose two 'somethings'.

The fact I chose two, was partly because I wanted to do something professionally focused, and something personal too, and partly because all that time at home felt somewhat daunting and therefore something I needed to fill as much as possible.... as will become clear below, it was a good thing that I picked two.

While the professional challenge, was relatively straight forwards, and is something that I have been able to work on regularly, the personal one... learning a new language relatively quickly fell by the way-side. I am not too sure why, perhaps it was because I chose a language that I had absolutely no knowledge of... Japanese which meant by the end of the second week, I knew little more than the first 10 numbers, or it may have been because I got distracted by another project... either way, it isn't too late to revisit it, and really I should.

For those of you who set similar challenges, and have succeeded - congratulations! For those who like me...didn't, or who were unable to do so at the time, and are now berating yourself for this, perhaps, you need to be a little less harsh on yourself, and I will explain why...

Subconsciously Learning New Skills

Yes, if you have been working at home for the first time properly, then you too are likely to have upskilled without realising it, and these new skills may include:

Self-motivation:

Over the years, I have had countless conversations with people who liked the idea of working from home, but thought that they wouldn't be able to do it. 'too easily distracted' came top of the list of reasons, but for many, having to do it, has meant that actually... you can.

Time Management:

In the course of a normal day in the office, your diary was usually book-ended by time constraints such as train times, lunch-time etc. but at home these will largely have disappeared... they may have been replaced with others, such as breakfast with the family, and meetings (now done online) will still require some structuring, but what it has meant is that your day includes spells when you can decide how best to use it - it is almost like being a grown-up!

Communication Skills:

We have all heard the statistics regarding non-verbal communication however in this new 'virtualised' world where meetings take place via tech platforms such as Skype, Zoom, Teams etc. One of the side effects is that we have lost many of our non-verbal cues. While you can see someone on your screen, being limited to a small (usually couple of inches square) box showing just their head and shoulders is very limiting. What it means is that we are having to improve our written, oral and aural communications skills - saying what we mean, and listening exactly to what people are saying has become critical.

Resilience:

Perhaps everyone who makes it through this crisis should be presented with a certificate, a bit like the ones you get for eating those massive meals at Harry Ramsden's... but in all seriousness, one of the skills that (almost) everyone will have strengthened without realising it is this. For a lot of us, the government's decision to put the country into lockdown seemed impossible just a few weeks before. Very quickly businesses had to make changes to ensure they could operate during this period, and for employees, there was a lot of quick-fire changes which they had to implement. Doing so successfully has not been easy, and however long it took to adjust, those who have managed it will certainly be able to adapt quicker and easier should something similar occur in the future.

So, there we have it, without realising it, we have all improved our skillsets in 2020 in some way or another... if you have developed something specific, we are keen to hear about it... Comment on our Social Media, and please like/share this blog.