Out with the old, in with the Newance
Apparently we are in the ‘long middle’ — the phase of the pandemic that comes after those fight-or-flight months and feels aimless, monotonous and never-ending. For those of us lucky to have kept our jobs and privileged to be able to do them from home, the thrill of no commute and a fully-stocked refrigerator has long worn off as the same day plays on repeat. For countless others though, the challenges are literally existential.
Before the world turned upside-down and inside out, I wanted to do more to help people thrive at work. Having spent my entire career in advertising, where cultivating meaningful relationships is what makes the business meaningful, I became increasingly aware of the forces making it harder. More cultures, generations and time zones in one corner and legal hot water awaiting those who tend to speak before they think in the other. The unfortunate result was that for many, it became easier to retreat into ‘vanilla’ rather than champion their opinions and have challenging conversations. I did what I could to help the people I could, but became obsessed by the question of whether, paradoxically, technology could help us be more human at work.
Even before the pandemic, we needed a new type of coach and coaching that could be available to everyone, at any time. Traditional coaching is wonderful, but expensive and workshops, though inspiring, can be too abstract — knowing and doing are very different things and the day-to-day almost always gets in the way. Add a global pandemic into the mix and coaching from the sidelines can be too far removed from the daily challenges of this new normal.
Enter Newance: a tool that makes how we work, while we work, work. With Newance in your pocket, you get nudges in real time, about your day to help you pause, think and course-correct in the moments that matter. The right content in the right context — something I learned a lot about when working in advertising for over 20 years — what you say is only listened to, if you say the right thing to the right person at the right time. Our needs are as diverse as we are.
Newance is already delivering on its promise — users and their managers are reporting increases in productivity and engagement:
Less sleep walking through the week and more ownership of their time, calendar and energy.
Managers are given actionable advice about how to lead their people — too many are promoted then expected to figure out how to be a manager on-the-job.
Day-to-day stresses are treated as they happen, before they manifest more seriously.
It was challenging enough to be a human at work before the reality of work transformed in an instant.
Businesses need to provide tools for talent to thrive, not just survive their way through this — scalable solutions that can adapt as we need them, for everyone and not just the chosen few.
By encouraging individuals and teams to have challenging conversations and amplify diverse voices, Newance drives meaningful, inclusive and lasting organizational change from the employee up.
Out with the old, in with the Newance.
