Happy Workplace

As a new year starts, here are 10 ways you can boost productivity by creating a happy workplace.

Happy New Year

I hope you had a wonderful break and are feeling set for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2019.

Are you happy to be back at work?

What about the people around you?

In a now-classic TED Talk, Shawn Achor shares a stunning statistic:

'Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than at negative, neutral, or stressed'

31 per cent would be a big win. So how can you create that for yourself, and for the people around you?

Meaningful Work

Nothing is more demoralising than the feeling of 'what's the point?' So, the first step in creating a happy workplace is giving people a reason to be happy t do the work they do. Ask yourself 'for what purpose are we doing this?' And keep asking that until you find a worthwhile reason.

L&D

People get a buzz out of the feeling that they can do things they couldn't do before. They love new knowledge and the sense that they are better this evening than they were at the start of the day. And you can magnify the sense of workplace wellbeing when they can see that that development came from opportunities you gave them.

Pay Attention

Your team cannot avoid communicating how they feel about their work and their workplace. Neither can you, by the way. All you have to do is pay attention to what they say and do, and also what they don't say. And then act on what you learn with generosity and compassion.

Two Words

You know what's coming... We crave recognition for what we contribute. It makes us feel valued. If you wonder how important this really is, ask yourself how it feels to be ignored. And what are the two words that show recognition and appreciation?

Common Courtesy

Which brings us to the wider topic of politeness. A polite workplace is a happy workplace. It creates a mood of respect and positive endorsement. Role model courtesy, and ask your trusted workplace allies to do so too. It will start to become infectious. Also, call-out discourtesy and the disrespectful behaviour that can poison a culture.

Focused Sprints

We are happiest when we are engrossed in our work. Create the possibility for people to spend more time in dedicated bursts of 90 - 150 minutes of focused work. And encourage them to mark the completion of a substantial sprint with a proper break. A tea or coffee, a chat, a wander around, a trip outside to the fresh air... 

Fewer Distractions

At the same time as encouraging focus, help people find ways to reduce distraction. Make it normal to shut down email and turn off phones. Provide quiet workspaces and allow people to take their work to where they can concentrate best. I often take 'reading and thinking' work to cafés, for example.

Keep Moving

Re-arrange your workplace so people need to move around more. It's good for their cardiovascular systems, mental alertness, and gluteal spread. Make them walk past colleagues, and offer places to meet up and chat. Heck, why not ban emails between people in the same building?

Give Control

We get stressed when we don't have enough control over our work. So, give as much as you can and measure performance on what your people do with that control, rather than 'how hard they work'. And let them alter their workspace environment too.

Admin Routine

Admin: yuk! No-one likes it. If we did, we'd call it 'fun'. It's easy to follow a mindless habit, and easier still if everyone is doing the same thing at the same time. So, once a month, create an admin hour and get everybody doing their admin at the same time, every time.