The Ripple Effect of People at Work
As you read this, I'm taking a little time out and spending a few weeks travelling through Europe. Right now, I'm in Rome, and one of my favourite things to do is find a little café in a piazza, order a coffee and simply watch people.
I could happily sit there for hours.
There's something fascinating about watching the little interactions happening all around me. A waiter welcomes a customer with a smile and you can almost see them relax. Someone becomes impatient in a queue and suddenly the mood shifts. A tourist asks for directions and, a few moments later, two strangers are laughing together over a map.
It reminds me that every interaction creates a ripple and schools are no different.
When educators tell me about a difficult day, they rarely begin with the lesson they taught or the emails they answered. More often, they tell me about a conversation that stayed with them. A difficult parent meeting. A misunderstanding with a colleague. A leader who made them feel supported. Someone who noticed they were having a tough day.
The work hasn't changed, but their experience of the work has.
A key model from organisational psychology (workplace wellbeing) that I refer to is demands and resources.
We often think of demands as workload, time pressure or constant change, but people can become demands too. Poor communication, unresolved conflict or ongoing negativity all require mental and emotional energy to navigate.
The opposite is true as well.
The colleague who offers encouragement, the leader who provides clarity or the person who simply listens without judgement can become a resource. They don't remove the challenge, but they make it easier to carry.
That's why the conversation about staff wellbeing needs to go beyond workload and time and move towards noticing ripple effect of our actions.
Every one of us contributes to how work feels.
The way we communicate, the assumptions we make and the way we respond to others all create ripples that extend far beyond the moment. Sometimes we add to the demands people are already carrying, and sometimes we become one of the resources that helps lighten the load.
One Small Shift
This week, pause after a conversation and ask yourself:
"What ripple did I leave behind?"
Did I add to someone's demands, or did I become one of their resources?
I've realised that whether I'm sitting in a piazza in Rome or walking through a school staffroom, people aren't all that different. We all want to feel respected, valued and like we matter.
Sometimes that's exactly what one thoughtful conversation can do.
In The Reignite Room we explore strategies for individuals that influence this ripple effect
In the Sustainable Staff Wellbeing System we explore strategies for school leaders.
