Engagement and RESTING!

How do we keep people engaged when there are periods of rest?

The period between Christmas and New Year — where you never quite know what day it is — gives us pause to think over how we engage people through rest.

1. Engagement isn't a fixed level

We can never sustain peak levels of engagement. When it comes to engagement levels, it's more like a pulse, a tide — between a lower boundary and an upper boundary. Another way to see it is as a floor (the lower boundary) and a ceiling (the upper boundary).

2. Respect the ratio of upper and lower

Some immature approaches to engaging people are about pushing the upper boundary and raising the ceiling. More! Increase! Growth! Output!

And yes, there are times for this. But from healthcare to military to sports to sales teams to service delivery, there is recognition that there are bursts of output, and then recovery and preparation. A 1:10 ratio perhaps, although it's a far harsher ratio in healthcare.

3. Strengthening the floor

My personal approach has been to strengthen the floor more than I have sought to raise the ceiling. This has limitations — I'm not a high-growth or high-achievement person. But I have developed a skill for building strong, enduring relationships, where the floor is strong.

Rest affords opportunities to strengthen the floor for our teams, our customers and our communities.

4. Reflecting in the rest

There's a concept in learning theory that people need time after "being taught" to sit with an idea, to let it percolate, to chew it over.

Rest is a good time to encourage this. To do this well, offer prompts that help people reflect. Spotify Wrapped is a superb example — all users get to see what their relationship with Spotify has been over the year.