Making Progress While Spinning Our Wheels: Notes on Overall Office Vibes

“Why does it feel like I am just spinning my wheels all day at work?”

“Everything I do feels so complicated—it’s impossible to just get something done if it involves other people.”

“I feel like all I do all day is answer questions.”

“I feel like no one has time to answer my questions.”

“I can’t get work done.”

Lately, I’ve been hearing these things a lot.

And, you can’t all be doing it wrong. There is something happening that is making you feel this way. It’s not just you.

There is no way to demonstrate this more effectively than asking your team to line up from the person who has been employed the longest to the person who is the newest. I do this regularly during staff retreats. The original intent was to ensure that when I was assigning people to break out groups, there would be a good mix of tenure. Now I do it because it’s been a very powerful way to physically see just how many people are new. In the past 10 or so staff retreats I have facilitated, I promise you that I am not exaggerating when I say that at least half of every team had less than 2 years under their belt.

Does anyone remember what has happened in the past 2 years? Perhaps you have blocked it out—we were in a global pandemic that universally changed the way we work forever and a racial uprising captivated us all.

Is there any wonder that you feel like you are spinning your wheels?

So, what do you do next? Well, maybe you just read this and know that you aren’t alone, that you are feeling this way with good reason. When you are ready, it might be time to get back to the basics—build out and re-evaluate systems that may not work anymore, or that do but no one knows how to use them. Get your teams together to align through team building and strategic thinking. Make time for weekly lunches to just get to know the people on your team.

Above all, I hope you give yourself grace.