Facilitate Magazine October 2020

Resilience is key, as are you

While the sun was setting on summer and spoiling many of us with an encore of warm, bright days, news arrived like a chilly autumnal wind that the Government-driven rush back
to the office was off: once again, we were being advised to work from home if possible. Of course, many in our profession will continue to work on-site, just as they have throughout the pandemic; a lot of us, however, will remain largely confined to working remotely.

Whichever category you fall under, I cannot stress enough how crucial you are to the effort to overcome these difficult times. Whether you are keeping people and buildings healthy and working or helping to establish new ways of working, you are key to your organisation’s and country’s fortunes.

Just before Boris’ announcement, I took part in a very timely launch event for the Resilience Alliance: a coming together of four professional membership bodies, including IWFM, to share knowledge and promote resilience in organisations.

There has never been a greater need for organisations to be adaptive and flexible, both for navigating through the disruption and uncertainty, and for ensuring your people are equipped and supported to do their best work. Inspiration can come from intense pressure, but reliable creativity and innovation under duress requires a calmness of mind that comes from being prepared for any eventuality.

Thankfully, we have steady hands steering the ship at Facilitate magazine in our newly crowned ‘Editor of the Year’, Martin Read, who was acknowledged by the memcom excellence awards last month. Thank you for all your hard work, Martin, and congratulations for winning this richly deserved award!

Linda Hausmanis is CEO of the IWFM