One of the defining features of our new working lives is “the coronacoaster” – the inevitable ups and downs that come from working through an incredibly challenging period. When faced with these circumstances, we are reminded of a quote from Viktor Frankl: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

So, the Remarkable Partnerships team have put together six recommendations on how to stay positive in the pandemic.

Be inspired by others’ successes

If we let ourselves, it can be all too easy to see the barriers to building major corporate partnerships and declare it an impossible task. But even over the last few months we’ve seen charities and business create incredible new partnerships. These examples are a source of inspiration and can be exactly what you need to get back in the zone. Two of our favourite examples from the last three months are:

• Sumatran Orangutan Society have built a new £20,000 partnership with a peanut butter company, building on their joint position on palm oil. This partnership will see an on-pack promotion and integrated marketing campaign launching soon.
• Soil Association have secured a new six-figure partnership with a garden centre chain, launching early in 2021. This partnership is built on the two organisation’s shared love of our planet and will create a ‘Soil Association approved’ range of products in-store.

Stay connected with your cause 

For many of us, as time whips past, it is easy go through the motions in our roles. We can lose our sense of purpose and be stuck in the small details of what we’re doing, rather than remembering the inspiration of why we’re doing it. Therefore, one big tip to staying positive at this time is to re-connect with your cause, and the people, animals or environments that it helps.  

We recommend speaking to your services team, reading back through stories of people your charity has helped or asking your colleagues or trustees why they support your cause. Feeling inspired by your cause will give you new energy and motivation, and help lift your spirits to know the work you are striving to deliver on a daily basis plays a part in achieving those outcomes. Take time to re-connect as often as possible.

Do what you say you are going to do

As human beings we have a tendency to set our expectations really high and fail to meet them. In our experience, this is often the case with daily to lists. At the beginning of the day we feel optimistic and write a long to do list. Then we do some work and maybe tick off a small number of items on our list. But it’s easy to get distracted by other things that happen during the day, so we finish with a list where the majority of tasks are still undone. This is counter-productive because it can lower our mood.

So, we recommend you start each day with a shorter, more achievable to do list. Perhaps one major task and three smaller ones. This gives you a much better chance of completing it. And there is nothing more satisfying than doing what you say you are going to do. It makes you feel good about yourself and increases your overall confidence.

Find your partnerships tribe

Gallup, the experts in workplace wellbeing, state that a big factor in how well employees perform is whether they have a “work best friend”. Their research shows that organisations where the majority of employees identify as having a work best friend, there is a 12% uplift in company profit. As such, we strongly recommend investing time in meaningful relationships with your peers – whether they are in your organisation or not.

 At Remarkable Partnerships, we run a WhatsApp group of corporate partnerships professionals to help facilitate these friendships. It is a sounding board for overcoming struggles, a tribe to share successes with – please email us on team@remarkablepartnerships.com if you would like to join this group.

Book your annual leave

Self-care comes in all forms, but with what 2020 has thrown at us, it is more important than ever to look after yourself.  
With global travel restricted, you may not yet have had a ‘proper’ break from work where you can rest. Even though you are working at home, you shouldn’t feel guilty taking annual leave when your colleagues and organisation may be stretched.  

Unless you are well rested and have the energy and perspective that a good break brings, then you won’t be bringing the best of yourself to the role. Go on, book that week long break, and switch off. Everyone will be better for it.  

Focus on what’s going well

As we go through our working day, we have a tendency to focus on problems. This makes sense because it’s our job is to solve problems and make things better. However, it can mean that we spend quite a lot of time in a looking at things from a negative perspective.

A great antidote to this is asking yourself (and colleagues), “what’s going well?” It’s a question we rarely consider and yet the answers usually lift our mood. At Remarkable Partnerships we often begin workshops and brainstorms with this question. Focusing on what’s going well gives us the opportunity to feel proud of what we’ve achieved, so we can bring more energy and positivity to our daily work.

In summary

As we move into another six months of working from home, we encourage you to stay connected to what’s possible as much as you can. If you have other tips on how to stay positive or if there’s anything we can help with, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to get in touch by emailing us at team@remarkablepartnerships.com