There’s no doubt that 2020 was a complicated year for many of us. It could even be a year that some are hoping to forget.  But when the time comes to take stock of the 12 months that are behind us, it’s also true that 2020 may have taught us some things that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Here are our top ten important—and not so important—things we learned in 2020.

1. Team, Team and Team again! The more isolated we were, the more we needed to feel part of a team.
2. It’s important to accept our vulnerability, instead of always striving for perfection. We learnt to juggle work, family and the responsibility to our own well-being, and discovered that, sometimes, just getting through the day was good enough.
3. Cats and keyboards don’t mix. It’s not always a good idea to let your cat on your desk… Especially when your cup of coffee is there as well.
4. We really are all in this together. 2020 was the year when empathetic leadership proved its true value.
5. True happiness is having a “workspace with a view”. Now that we’ve had the chance to see inside everyone’s houses, you can’t help admiring their views of rolling green hills while you’re hiding your unmade bed and dirty dishes behind a virtual backdrop of a tropical beach.
6. Use your mute button carefully. “We can see your mouth moving, but we can’t hear what you’re saying!”
7. Use your mute button carefully… part two: “Who’s making that strange slurping noise?”
8. We never expected to miss our offices so much. Even the morning queue for the coffee machine or the lively ‘debates’ about the right temperature for the air conditioning. We realized that those random moments of human connection were fulfilling some important needs, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.
9. The way we spoke changed forever. Before 2020, how often did we need to say ‘social distancing’, ‘the new normal’ and ‘Zooming’? And did anyone ever drink a ‘Quarantini’?
10. Health and well-being must be at the center of everything we do. Because without that, no individual, or team, can flourish.

When it comes to the way we work together, 2020 brought a new and much needed emphasis on authenticity, trust and mutual support. The fragility of our lives made the reality of the ‘team’ as an emotional center more important than ever before. And that is something we can take forward and remember as we move towards better times.

At TeamEQ, our mission is to help to create stronger and more motivated teams in 2021 by using technology to connect people. Technology with a human face that promotes deeper relationships and better ways to create a sustainable and emotionally fulfilling work environment.

Because 2020 is gone. But, hopefully, some of the things we learned will be with us forever.

Discover how TeamEQ can help to build stronger teams in 2021 by taking a demo today.