I decided to attend the workshop on wellbeing for managers when I saw it advertised because I'm very aware of mental health issues through family history, and also that it is a big part of looking after your team and yourself. I wanted to learn some of the skills for opening these conversations at work and instilling an open door policy regarding all matters associated with mental wellbeing.
I found the workshop very useful. It was nice that it was such a varied group of people from across the university. It was also useful as it gave me time to think about my own approaches and ways of working, as well as getting a better insight into the wider context, and challenging some of my preconceptions.
I told my team I was going on the workshop, and that I hoped that it would result in a much more open conversation about mental health.
I picked up the Mental Health Continuum chart at the session, and I now have that up my office. I regularly use it in our one-to-ones, by asking my team to point out where they are on the continuum, and encouraging a discussion around it. I've tried to make it very much a part of day-to-day discussions at work, and because of this people are generally much more open about issues in their wider life which might be impacting on their work performance. Additionally my team are aware that I will take these issues seriously and help put support in place when it is required.