Apprehension: Is it healthy in the workplace?

Last week I not only attended but had the privilege of being part of the Event Team for the one-day Study of Enterprise Agility Conference (SEACON) in London. Event organizer Barry Chandler always manages to secure powerful speakers and this year was no different. The topics centered around sustainability in not only business practices but also in agility.

The night before the event, we had a dinner for speakers and event team members. One of the topics of discussion at the dinner was around what it would be like to go back to in-person events and everyone had a different perspective and thoughts. For many at the table, this was their first in-person gig in two years. And then there were those who work in events management and had been back to in-person events for awhile and it was just one more gig in a full schedule as everyone tries to return to in-person at once.

How would people act returning to in-person events?

There was quite a bit of speculation around how people would act. Would networking be awkward? Would people want to talk to strangers? Was distancing even going to be possible? London has no COVID regulations at present so there were no requirements for limiting capacity or wearing face masks. For me personally, coming from Spain, it was mind boggling that no measures were in place. Since one of my tasks was to greet the 250 people coming through the door in reception, I opted to wear my mask. That made a handful of people ask if there was a rule they didn’t know. One man even went so far as to ask me if he should put one on and when I said there were no regulations so it was up to him he asked what everyone else was doing so he could do the same.

Interestingly, another topic centered around what people would wear. Was the wardrobe going to change because we were out of practice from putting on nice shoes and decent outfits? Given that the event was always business casual and dress how you feel comfortable, I wasn’t so worried about this but one speaker even made a comment that she had to figure out footwear for on-stage. Spoiler: Nobody turned up in sweatpants and fluffy slippers.

One colleague on the events team even suggested that we do a Sli.do to gather information on what concerned people and then have people upvote. Sadly, we didn’t take that approach because it probably would have provided some interesting details for this article - a focus on apprehension and the role it plays for us professionally. But also, I wonder, at the same time, if much would have surfaced. Being part of the events team I had the opportunity to observe all facets of the event and how people were interacting. To an outside observer, it didn’t look any different than our last in-person event at the end of 2019.

What actually happened?

So was their apprehension? Did people have concerns? Did it impact people’s intent to attend in person versus taking the online option? I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to many people who had chosen online vs in-person but while some people couldn’t attend due to COVID for others it was about attending when they normally wouldn't because of geographic location. Most people will not travel to London for a one-day conference no matter how stellar the speakers - even from other parts of the UK. And the majority of comments I heard from colleagues of those attending online were not around returning to in-person and apprehension but rather scheduling was easier if they could watch while attending to other business affairs rather than taking the whole day out to be there at Plexal in London.

So now that you have the story about the apprehension that turned out to be unfounded from all outward appearances, let’s unpack apprehension in the workplace and how it can be healthy and unhealthy. Apprehension on the surface is a mild form of anxiety. Mirriam Webster brings us this definition:

suspicion or fear especially of future evil : foreboding

an atmosphere of nervous apprehension

And Oxford Languages brings us a subtler definition of the term:

anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.

"he felt sick with apprehension"

In the case of the conference, I don’t think anyone was suspicious or fearful of anything evil, but rather the unknown and their role in returning to the old ways of meeting and gathering. In the context of workplace culture, people may feel apprehensive about speaking or presenting, pitching new ideas, interacting with colleagues in a new way or challenging situations, or raising objections that go against their peers or leaders. And all of that is normal if it is a mild form of apprehension; something to make someone take pause and think about their actions and words before uttering them. If people feel a bit of apprehension they are more likely to think about the working agreement and communication plan within the team before jumping into a situation rather than blurting something out or charging in like a bull in a china shop. They will think about the reactions and learning styles of their colleagues and take into account the impact of their actions. However, there is a fine line here.

Apprehension or Anxiety?

If that apprehension escalates into full blown anxiety then we are in psychologically unsafe waters for the individual and potentially the organization. If performing functions that are largely required on a daily basis by everyone on a team in order to collaborate and innovate, makes someone break out in a sweat, have shaking hands, and a racing heart, then we need to examine why. It may be this person’s personal struggle with managing stress, but if it is a common occurrence within the team to the point where people are holding back on participating in a constructive way, then it can also be a strong indicator that work needs to be done to encourage people to safely speak up without anxiety.

Here at Agility for All we have tackled the idea of safety and how to build trust in a variety of blogs so I won’t elaborate again here, but instead encourage you to take time to read our past material. However, I will ask you to be more aware of the interactions of the team especially if working remotely. Body language and side interactions are more difficult to decipher when you aren’t in person. Reactions and interactions happen behind a screen and offline. So I will ask that if you see people hesitating to show up in a collaborative way that you head it off at the pass and work on improving the culture of the team. AND if you have never deliberately worked at building a culture of collaboration, innovation, and safety because you were just lucky enough to have it happen organically, I encourage you to incorporate some intentional team building activities to expand on this.

If this is a topic that interests you, we would love to talk more. Not only do we provide tips in our blog and social media, but we work with teams on the collaboration through our programs both in-person as retreats and online group coaching.

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INDRA A. BOOKS

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