We were fortunate enough to be invited to the First National Property Managers Conference where Eva Judge delivered a keynote around “Removing the Stress from Property Management”. Eva shared the different tasks VA’s perform, an Ideal week for an agency that uses VA’s along with the how an agency looks that implements VA’s into their business. At the end of the talk Eva invited the room to stand and join in with one of daily stretch breaks (the full stretch break video is below).
Many people came up to speak with us around stretch breaks and to get an understanding around the idea of stretch breaks. Why We Started Stretch Breaks There are a number of initiatives we have implemented over the years and stretch breaks have proven to be one the most successful initiatives. Around 2 1/2 years ago we were experiencing a number of issues with posture, back pain and general injuries related to sitting all day. We started to send staff off to see Physio’s, look at chairs, desks etc. While this helped to a certain level the overall productivity of the staff were starting to be impacted through sick time and time they would need to be away from client as they travelled to see a physio. When Googling the problem I found several articles that spoke about the impact of stretch breaks and more importantly how stretch breaks reduce injuries and increases overall productivity. This lead to a conversation with our management around how we could roll out a test of Stretch Breaks, the best time to take breaks and the type of stretches we should focus on. Under the guide of a yoga instructor (that actually worked with client during the day) we decided to focus on one song with just stretches and one song of just dance. This allowed time for everyone to loosen up and then to get moving and get their blood pumping. 2 and a Half years On 2 1/2 years on and our stretch breaks are going strong! Our team ARE more engaged and the incidences of work related injuries have reduced by a lot more than we expected. Stretch breaks are also helping to install the culture of fun and has increased the productivity for clients. Check out the video below and see if you can follow the dance moves. I recommend if you have staff that work from the same location that you give stretch breaks a go. It’s amazing to see the impact and vitalization of staff when they can take a short break to have FUN!