The events of the past year have led to a lot of ifs, buts, possibilities - or lack of them!

Carolyne Crowe and Alan Robinson provide practical techniques for coping with change at BSAVA Congress.

The past year has seen unprecedented levels of change both in our personal and professional lives. During the third and final morning of BSAVA Congress (27 March), Carolyne Crowe and Alan Robinson shared tips for managing change during uncertain times.

Carolyne, who is head of training at the Veterinary Defence Society, began by discussing how the events of the past year have led to a lot of ifs, buts and possibilities (or lack of them!). While change is nothing new to the veterinary profession, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted our personal lives - how we live, our finances and our health - and all this change can affect how we feel at work.

“Peaks of big uncertainty can be one of the big drainers for our resilience, and affect resilience not only for ourselves but also for our teams, our practices as well as the wider profession,” she said. “[Uncertainty] is tiring, uncertainty is challenging but the world isn’t a certain place – and it certainly isn’t at the moment.”

Carolyne shared some practical tools leaders can use and take back to their team to help them feel less drained and more in control. Her biggest tip was to write a list of any concerns that might be floating around in your head – the things that are worrying you, the things that are keeping you up at night – and identifying what you can and cannot control.

For everything on that list you cannot control, try to accept that fact, Carolyne stressed. “Control the controllable. Focus on the things that can help you move forward to take action and to decide every day: ‘what am I going to respond to, how am I going to respond to that?’”

Ms Crowe spoke about how leaders in practice can use this technique to help their teams manage their personal and professional concerns. She stressed that one of the best things you can do for your team is to become a role model. 

“On a noticeboard or in a meeting, encourage your team to share their concerns and worries and ask them what they will focus on today, she said. This simple action can prevent one person’s worrying from spreading throughout the whole team.

“Think about how you are behaving. Think about the language you are using, and think about how you are communicating with your teams, too, in the face of that uncertainty.”

Train your brain

Alan Robinson, a practice development coach at Vet Dynamics, led the second half of the session. Alan shared some tips and tricks to help ‘train your brain’, and build up its resilience to uncertainty. Mr Robinson's overarching advice was to be generally aware of both your responses and in others - particularly if you are in a leadership position. His other top tips were:

    • control what you can - create predictability and order where and when you can
    • set a daily schedule - daily routines are your secret weapon against anxiety
    • fall back on systems and processes – a daily schedule provides you with a system to follow
    • move the goalposts closer – set yourself small, doable tasks
    • reward yourself regularly - find the joy in the small things 
    • move your body – when you exercise, you’re taking action
    • maintain connections – take action by supporting someone else.
   
When asked how to help people who are struggling to cope, Alan said: “Firstly, get to understand their world - sit in their empathetic, compassionate state. That takes a lot of deep listening and deep connection.

“The second thing is to drive people towards gratitude. What is it that we can be grateful for at this moment? Gratitude is a huge shifter of motivation.”