When a business stops trying to control their employees, the employees begin to feel free at work. This freedom will allow them to feel more comfortable and happy.

Let’s say you have 50 employees who each have 100 Facebook and 100 Twitter friends. That’s 10,000 people that your employees are interacting with. They are talking about you to their friends.

What are they really saying?

Employee Outreach

You should be encouraging your employees to talk about their company, but never force them to use social media. Your employees will share the company’s story with their friends when you treat your employees like the superstars that they are.

This is where freedom comes in. If your people feel that they are free to do what is best for them and the company, they will use this freedom to make both themselves and the company happy.

It’s this happiness that flows into the rest of their conversations.

Some employees will always rebel against their employer. They will feel stifled working for someone else. This is a small percentage. The majority of the people will compare their freedoms with their friends. If they can leave work to watch their daughter in a school play on a Wednesday afternoon, they will feel lucky. If they don’t have to ask the boss for permission to do so, they will feel trusted.

They will also be more willing to think about work while in the shower. This after hours thinking is when the big ideas manifest themselves. When at work people are distracted by the small tasks.  When away from work (i.e. taking a shower) their mind is free to expand into creative solutions.

It’s About the Results

A person who is engaged in their work and who cares about what they do will be working at all times of the day. They will feel free to do this because they were free on a Wednesday afternoon when they wanted to watch their daughter in her play.

“It’s a two way street,” as my father always told me. The more freedom and trust you give your employees, the more energy they will give back to you.

Is this a perfect method? No. But the alternative is watching employees like a hawk, restricting their creativity until you piss off most of your employees, then they feel forced to leave or stay under the radar. We know how both of these options work out.

We have to adapt and treat people the way they want to be treated, so they will be happy and create results that will make both employer and employee proud.

A New Direction

We must rehumanize business for the sake of our health (economy and individual).

It’s also the best way we can reduce stress. People don’t stress out because the work is too hard. People stress out because they feel forced to do work that they don’t like.

70% of people go to the hospital because of stress-related symptoms. It’s funny that 70% of white collar workers are unhappy at work. Coincidence, hmmm I think not.

When people believe that they are making choices instead of being told what to do, then they will feel like they are creating their own destiny.

Rehumanizing business will improve most companies’ bottom line (more creativity, increased engagement and less absenteeism) as well as individual employee’s happiness and job enjoyment.

My Own Rebuttal

If this is such a great idea, then why don’t all companies give more freedom to their employees?

Old Habits Die Hard

We are so used to the old way of doing business. We are afraid to try something that might not work. We don’t want to risk the whole company crumbling because everyone is off watching their daughter in her school play or hanging out in coffee shops.

We need to crush this fear and replace it with fear of falling behind. We all know that when we are happy and free, we do great work.

We should give employees more freedom to connect with the customer (improve marketing), take off when they want without fear of big brother keeping track (improve trust), and develop projects that will improve the company (improve creativity).

Let’s rehumanize business together.

Link to this post or tweet about rehumanizing business and let’s get more people talking about this concept. You could also send this series of posts to a friend who owns a business. Hopefully they see the value in letting their employees have the freedom to create amazing work.

Want to catch up in this 3 part series? Then check out:

- Part 1 – Rehumanize Business

- Part 2 – Unleash Your Employee’s Creative Marketing Beast

* Join over 600 people who have already subscribed to the FREE Happy at Work 10 Week eCourse. It will arrive in your inbox every Monday morning, when you need it the most. (Sign up is in the top left corner)

* I love an article from Office Arrow. It’s called Challenge Your Potential: Competent Leadership.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

- The Secrets to Workplace Leadership

- Team Building Activity – Hint – Colorful Balls

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

You may have read that title and thought, “What does my company’s marketing have to do with work happiness?”

A lot.

70% of business is transacted because your friend told you about a product or service. You probably own an iPod because your friends wouldn’t stop raving about their iPod. You trust your friends to recommend good stuff.

Zappos let’s their employees Twitter on the job. They trust their people to connect with the customer.

I love Zappos, not because they have every kind of shoe on the planet, but because they ship for free, have a 360 day return policy and pay for shipping back to the company if you want to return a purchase. Now that’s worth spreading.

People want to share stuff that makes them happy. It’s up to companies to encourage their people to share their story.

Your Marketing Team

When a company thinks of everyone as a part of their marketing team, they become more humane to their employees. For example, an employee can now blog or Twitter about an event that happened at work and there is potential for millions of people to hear about it.

Southwest Airlines has the rapping flight attendant. Over 100 thousand people have viewed videos of the flight attendant rapping the rules of the flight. It makes me wish that some day I will have him on one of my flights. This is more valuable than a Super Bowl ad (2 million dollars for 30 seconds). This YouTube video is being passed around by friends, making people talk about it. Because our friends like it, we trust it.

Friends encourage one another to watch the video, which makes people more likely to try the product.

We are living in a day and age when employers can encourage employees to take a larger role in a company’s success. Why aren’t we jumping all over this?

Fear.

- Companies are afraid that their employees may do something to embarrass the company.

- Companies are afraid that their employees will take advantage of these new tools.

- Companies are afraid that…

And on and on. The fear rolls on.

Your fear should not determine the happiness of your employees. After all, your employees who are taking advantage of you are doing it right now and will continue do it because they feel they are justified.

You can’t stop this.

It Comes Back to Trust

What you can do is give your trust, and when your trust is broken you can create a warning system (3 strikes you are out) then pull that trust from that one employee. Don’t take it out on everyone else.

Most of your employees will be more loyal when they know that they have your trust and respect.

If you allow your employees to Twitter, blog, and Facebook while at work then it’s up to you to create some guidelines.

The idea is to create an open community of thoughts and ideas. When you allow your employees to share their thoughts with the world about your business, you will get honest feedback and a chance to reach out to the world with your people’s ideas.

Company Culture

Zappos encourages a fun, interactive, and creative culture. They want to develop relationships that stick. Read my interview with the CEO of Zappos Tony Hsieh right here. Zappos has some of the stickiest relationships with their customers.

I admit that tweeting and blogging isn’t for every company, but I do believe that every company should implement some kind of open forum for their employees to reach out to the community. We need to create a culture that allows people to let their personalities out.

Let’s stop hiding our people away form the public. Let everyone have a chance to influence the customer. The freedom to make connections that will build loyalty. It’s this marketing that pays forward in many directions. The employees feel trusted. The customer doesn’t feel abused (they opted in to the message). The company makes both employees and customers happy.

In the next post we will talk about freedom at work.

Want to catch up? Check out Part 1:

- Rehumanize Business

* Don’t miss out on any more great articles. Sign up for my RSS feed or email feed and you’ll stay updated on the latest tips and ideas to bring more happiness to your working life.

* Tony the CEO of Zappos wrote an enlightening piece called Your Culture Is Your Brand. It’s a must read for all business owners.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

- Work Happiness Expert – Tony Hsieh of Zappos
- Make Every Employee Feel Cool

Image courtesy of lowlevelrebel

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Too many businesses are worried about playing it safe. They don’t want to uncover the bad stuff that is happening in their business, so they look the other way instead. Human Resources is there to protect the company. Upper management only wants to know about positive sales figures.

Who can most employees turn to?

They don’t turn to anyone; they just leave.

I want to rehumanize (I borrowed the word from Chris Brogan) business so that people feel free to speak up. The only way business is going to become faster, more enjoyable and more profitable is if you have every person in your company and even your customers become a part of your marketing department. That means they tell their friends, family and their internet buddies that your products/services are awesome.

Eliminate Employee Criticism

A great way to reduce or eliminate badmouthing of the company by the employees is to give them the chance to talk about what is bothering them, listen to their concerns, and allow employees to be a part of the change.

BzzAgent’s CEO Dave Balter learned that his employees’ opinions mattered. They mattered so much that the whole company addresses everyone’s issues, from needing four pronged forks in the lunch room to discussing how they can communicate with clients better. He created an anonymous suggestion box that was open to everyone. This created an opportunity to listen to and address people’s problems.

There will be times when a company is unable to accommodate an employee, but most employees understand this. At least they had a chance to make their feelings heard.

Your company probably has a few disgruntled employees. Every company has them. If you aren’t listening to their needs, you are creating a divided culture.

Listening Skills

Think about what you can do to improve your listening skills and deal with your employees’ needs.

When a company stops treating their employees as dollar signs and actually allows them to direct the company, that company gains 1,000 paddles in the ocean pushing their message out to potential customers. Believe me, the money will flow back into the company. I promise. All it takes is a leap of faith.

In the next post we’ll talk about how to unleash every employee’s creative marketing beast.

* Are you on Twitter? Then join over 3,000 people who get my stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes. @workhappynow

* Gallup wrote an interesting piece called How to Bolster Employees’ Confidence. I’ll give you a hint, encouraging words matter.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

- Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It, Book Review
- 4 Techniques to Help You Deal With a Difficult Boss

Image courtesy of CC Chapman

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I shared a drink with a friend who manages a team of five people. He was wondering how people’s moods can fluctuate in such a broad range, which affects the quality of their work. One of his employees is always up and down. He is engaged with his work one week and then he seems to lose interest. His interest fluctuates and he isn’t sure why.

We all have this problem it’s just that most of us force ourselves to stay focused. My friend told me that he has tried giving this employee various kinds of work to see what interests him, but that didn’t work either.

I asked him if he ever sits down with his staff to explain the reasoning behind the work.

He said he didn’t. He never really thought of that because it’s pretty obvious to him. They need to design websites that exceed the customer’s expectations.

He was losing out on a huge opportunity. People often stop looking at the larger picture because they get comfortable. This comfortable feeling reduces their desire to go above and beyond the normal effort.

A study at the University of Alberta showed that people need a sense of purpose in order to feel engaged with their work. A ‘Spirit at Work’ intervention program for a group of long-term health-care workers boosted morale and job retention. This program urged employees to rethink their job, which reduced absenteeism by 60% and turnover by 75%.

“We discovered that people who are able to find meaning and purpose in their work, and can see how they make a difference through that work, are healthier, happier and more productive employees,” said Val Kinjerski, a University of Alberta PhD graduate who co-authored the study.
- E-science news gathered this information from the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.

By helping your people understand why they do what they do – you can increase happiness and productivity.

I’m going to give you a few ideas that might help your employees/coworkers to connect with their work.

Create Your Own Spirit at Work Intervention Program

1. Talk about positive stories
2. Have people share positive stories to be compiled for other employees
3. Listen to customer feedback
4. Find out what improvements your people would like to implement
5. Ask your employees how they want to celebrate great results

Your organization has an opportunity to create happier and more engaged workers with these easy to apply secrets that everyone should know, but many aren’t willing to try.

1. Talk about positive stories

Your organization has many stories of how employees solved problems, helped others in need, and other ways in which they went above and beyond to make someone happy. However, a lot of us like to play the modesty card. We hesitate to flaunt our achievements.

Wrong. So wrong. You need to flaunt your greatness; it’s a must.

A client recently told me about how I helped her feel happier. She explained that drugs that she took to keep her emotionally balanced didn’t help, but my site did. She thanked me profusely. (I put her quote on my hire me – coaching page.) I sent the email to my wife. I think Nikki got a better understanding of what I’m trying to do with this blog. Since she edits all of my writing I need her to feel engaged with the work, so we keep putting out the best content to help the readers of this blog.

You have to share similar stories with each other. Talk about how a customer gushed over your attention to detail. It shows the rest of your co-workers why you do what you do. Most of you aren’t working just for the paycheck. You are also working because you make a difference in people’s lives.

2. Have people share positive stories to be compiled for other employees

So now that you have all these positive stories, you should compile them in a central location. That means keeping emails from customers/clients and that also means writing down stories from employees.

I keep every positive email from my readers. Whenever I feel like my mood is low, I can always go into the archives and remind myself why I need to stay motivated.

The more stories an organization can compile the more powerful it becomes. If your organization is huge, then break it down into departments. Even departments such as marketing and accounting need to compile stories. These stories may be more internal, but it’s still important to document what is happening so you can link to why you do what you do.

3. Listen to Customer Feedback

In order to stay engaged in our work, we have to recognize our mistakes and understand how to fix them. By listening to customer feedback, an organization is taking the time to understand their mistakes and correct them.

I have known many people who like to solve problems. They get an energy boost from making a solution happen. I used to work at K-Mart, and one day a woman came into the store asking for a patio umbrella that wasn’t in stock. The salesperson called 4 different stores before she found the lady’s umbrella.

I remember when the lady came into the store to pick up the umbrella. She was gushing because it was the only one that fit her patio furniture.

You could see the manager beaming with pride.

You need to give your people a chance to create solutions so they can feel like they are a super hero.

4. Find out what improvements your people would like to implement

If you can listen to customers’ needs then it’s time to listen to employees’ needs. Your employees are at their most creative when they are trying to fix problems.

I worked for a company in which the employees had so many good ideas, but the manager never listened. We would be sitting in the lunch room and three different people would share ideas that sounded great to me. I asked them if they tried to talk to Alex about it and they said yes, but he told them to email him. They did and they never heard about the idea again. They got so disheartened that they stopped trying.

Your organization employs smart people, otherwise they probably wouldn’t hold the positions that they do. They just need a chance to unleash that creativity and wow the customer.

5. Ask your employees how they want to celebrate great results

Every company is capable of achieving great results, especially if they’ve been around for more than a few years. If your organization is ho hum about the results that do occur, your people may stop trying.

People want to know that what they do matters. That means celebrating all the good things.

This should be done in large and small groups. The larger gatherings can occur about 1-4 times a year, while the smaller groups (celebrations by department) should be done more often.

When you allow your people to dictate how they want to celebrate, they are less likely to find fault with the celebration.

Making your celebration a regular routine is the key, because you want to make a habit out of celebrating your successes. For the first month, try celebrating every week. Then have a celebration only once a month to keep things from getting stale. If you overload people and celebrate too often, they will get bored and also be unable to find reasons to rejoice in their hard work.

To avoid allowing this practice to fall away, it’s important to make the celebration fun. That might mean bringing food, letting people joke around, and finding other ideas that get people excited about attending.

Why It Works

After implementing these secrets for about a year, assess how these changes affect your organization. You will probably notice that people are more engaged and willing to try a little harder to meet each other’s needs as well as the needs of the customer.

These techniques will work for most companies. The companies that do fail usually do so because they don’t make this practice a habit. It needs to become part of the culture, so when something difficult happens there are techniques to fall back on. And when something great happens everyone dances on their desks, feeling proud of their effort.

Are you on Twitter? Then check me out at @workhappynow. I give stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and cool quotes that save the day.

***

As many of you know I’m a recent father and I’m not a big fan of father blogs, but I am a big fan of Sean’s Writer Dad. I love his writing style and flair for a story. Check out one of my recent favorites, The Mothers and Fathers of Tomorrow.

If you enjoyed this post then I think you’ll like this one too:

• The Greatest Compliment of My Life and Compliments to Give Your Co-workers

Image courtesy of (cup)cake_eater

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I love a forward thinking company. Artesano is definitely that. They are making honey (mead) wine from start to finish.

They make everything from scratch. They let the bees make the honey (Yes, they have their own bee farm in Vermont). They believe in high quality ingredients and excellent taste.

When I contacted Nichole, one of the owners, about helping them with their work happiness, I wasn’t sure what to expect. She was excited about the concept; I didn’t even have to do the hard sell.

We held the seminar on Sunday. Yes, I work on Sundays if that’s the best time for my client. Read their testimonial about my presentation – Karl Staib Presents His Work Happy Now Message.

I’m writing about this teleconference I did with Artesano because I want to put more emphasis on the work that I do with companies. You all know how important work happiness is to a company’s culture, especially a young company like Artesano.

Happy workers are often better communicators and they tend to stick around longer and show more loyalty to their company, to name a few reasons.

I have a good feeling Artesano will be around a long time, making their employees and customers happy.

If you think your company needs some more happiness infused into its culture, then contact me and let’s see what we can do to bring a little more productivity and joy to you and your co-workers.

If you want a quick does of work happiness then follow me on Twitter (@workhappynow). I promise to exceed expectations.

***

Brian Clark of CopyBlogger is opening back up one of the best make money online programs - Teaching Sells. If you have knowledge that few people have then it’s time to figure out how to make some good money off of it. Help yourself and the rest of the world. That’s working happy at it’s best.

If you liked this article then hmmmm…I think you’ll like these too:

• How do I make my people happy?
• Unleash Your Creative Beast
• Hire Personalities That Fit Your Company

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Every person becomes unhappy at work at some time or another. It’s the natural emotional ebb and flow of being human. Even the best job has its problems.

You probably have certain expectations that can’t be met. These expectations must be emotionally bridged or you will constantly be grasping for unattainable happiness.

This article is not about settling for a crappy job. That’s the furthest thing from my mind. I believe you need to use your superpowers at work so you can optimize our present happiness while planning your most rewarding future.

Superpowers are actions that excite you, get you in the zone, and play to your strengths. If you aren’t using your superpowers at work you are missing out on doing meaningful work that will engage every part of your mind.

First you must allow yourself to feel and understand your present situation. A good scream or a good cry can cleanse the mind. It all depends on the person. When you allow yourself to feel the emotion that is blocking you from moving on, then you can accept your current situation.

After accepting this emotion, you have limitless ability to learn from this process.

The only way to understand what type of work will bring you the most happiness in the future is to understand your present self. That means dealing with your emotions and building internal tools.

Learn to watch your emotions when they occur, then create a plan that will help you explore and encourage personal growth. Some of this may be painful, but believe me it’s a good pain. It’s this pain that will help make you smarter and emotionally stronger. I don’t mean stronger as in more stoic. I define emotional strength as the ability to process emotions and bring the mind back into balance.

After studying videos, articles, myself, and my co-workers, I’ve put together a list of 8 tasks that will help you work happier.

1. Find meaning.
2. Become more aware of self-talk.
3. Don’t take interactions personally.
4. Help someone else become happy.
5. Remember 3 good things.
6. Utilize Smart Breaks.
7. Speak up and take Action.
8. Use More of Your Strengths.

-

These are concepts that are easy to understand, but may be hard to implement. You’ll need to practice these to make sure they become a part of you. I’ll break them down so you can apply them to your working life.

1. Find Meaning

If you believe in the work you do, it will be easier to connect to each task.

It’s a simple equation.

Blood + Sweat + Tears = Passion

People who are passionate about their work will do almost anything to make sure the job is done well.

The problem many of us have is that we can’t connect with the work we are presently doing.

Maybe you don’t believe in the service or product.

I met a BMW salesman on a bus ride back from New York City who took a pay cut to sell Honda cars. He didn’t believe that BMW’s value was worth the extra expense. He did believe in Honda’s value to price ratio. So instead of selling a car he didn’t believe in, he switched jobs to have an easier time connecting with his product. The best part is that within six months he was making more money because his customers sent their friends and family members to him. He received twice as many word of mouth sales. This happened because he believed in his product.

You need to find a way to connect with your job. I would suggest that you start by listing all of the aspects of your products and services that deliver value. A few of these items should ping your heart.

If you can’t find value in anything you are doing, then you probably need to find a new job.

If a few of these items from your list tug at your emotions, then expand on them. How can you consistently keep these feelings at the forefront of your brain as you work?

You should keep these emotional stimulators in a place where you can see them. If you are feeling down and your energy is broken, then read over these stimulators and try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who needs your product or service.

If you find that these emotional stimulators aren’t doing the trick, then you need to become more aware of the internal story that prevents you from connecting to your work.

2. Become more aware of self-talk

You have continual dialog going on inside your head. The dialog can be positive, negative, or neutral.

It’s what you do with this dialog that will determine your perspective.

You’ve probably seen a co-worker who can take almost any situation in stride. They seem to have a magical ability to roll with their problems. This talent is largely due to the way that they communicate with themselves.

I worked along side a friend who could find the joy in every situation. I was amazed by her ability. During my time with her, I was at a point in my career where I was so pessimistic that I couldn’t see even a sliver of joy in the work that I did.

I studied her, watching her ability to enjoy even the most stressful situation.

The most important reason for her emotional success was her ability to talk herself through a problem. There were times when I could hear her whispering encouraging thoughts or jokes to make herself giggle.

She took her inner dialog to a new level. Instead of allowing her “self-talk” to beat herself up she used it to find a constructive point of view. She built upon each thought, allowing her thoughts to take her to an internal place that brought her joy.

You have this ability too. When you are in a stressful situation, watch your thoughts and see how they add or subtract to your happiness. If you are having thoughts that subtract from your joy, then try to offset this with fresh angles that help you see the positive. I usually try to think of things for which I am grateful. This helps me stay balanced.

By noticing what you are grateful for, you’ll expand your choices. The more positive choices you have the more likely you will feel happy.

3. Don’t Take Interactions Personally

I went to a therapist when I was in my mid twenties. I needed help. I was constantly frustrated by work, relationships and life in general.

My biggest struggle was relationships. I was afraid to joke around with new friends for fear of hurting someone else’s feelings. I was also afraid of what people thought of me. There were times when I decided to stay home instead of putting myself at risk of being judged by others.

Yep, I was a mess.

I thought that if I isolated myself from the pain that I would be happier. This only made me even more unhappy.

We all know that we shouldn’t take other people’s comments personally because they are just dealing with their own problems. I look at how angry and sad many people are. They never feel that they are treated fairly at work, in traffic or at home.

Most of the time these people are signaling others to treat them unfairly. It goes back to creating positive inner dialog. Instead of letting other people’s negative comments bring us down, we need to see every interaction as an opportunity for growth.

I’ve learned that people who speak negatively about other people really see this trait in themselves. They only see life from their perspective. They haven’t been able to expand beyond their own issues.

The way you can adjust your perspective on other people’s comments is to empathize with them. You can allow them to say what is on their mind, without taking it personally. You will be taking the first step toward mastering your own emotions.

Whenever someone makes an upsetting comment about you, it helps to ask yourself, “Why do they feel this way about themselves?” You’ll eventually stop putting the blame on yourself.

When you stop taking everything personally you can find ways to bring joy to your relationships without fear of what someone might say about you.

4. Help Someone Else Become Happy

Your happiness can expand if you help someone else become happy at work. I can cite about a dozen articles about the psychology of this process, but most of them a pretty dry and boring.

It’s better to demonstrate by using an example that I know you’ve all experienced.

Laughter. Yes, the endorphin releasing experience that we all love so much.

When you make someone laugh, how does it make you feel? It makes you feel good. It’s a basic part of being human.

Making someone else laugh is the same as helping someone at work: when you do it, you increase your own happiness. You stop worrying about yourself and focus on making someone else happy. The best part is that you improve your own happiness at the same time.

I finally found one quote that resonated with me:

“When I’m feeling a bit down and I stop myself and say, ‘Let’s forget about me for a moment and do something nice for others,’ the negative feelings subside, and a sense of bliss flows in to replace them. It’s quite simple in practice. The challenge is remembering to do it.”
- Steve Pavlina’s article Afternoon of Life

This trait is the basis of all good friendships.

5. Remember 3 Good Things

When you take the time to remember 3 good things, you are training yourself to see the positive in each day. A friend of mine, Alex Krujelf the Chief Happiness Officer, gave me this tip.

Many of us actually do the opposite: we look at all the upsetting things that happened in our day, thinking that if we look over our mistakes we can avoid repeating them. This causes us to focus on the negative and beat ourselves up.

When I first started practicing the “3 Good Things” habit, I noticed a difference right away. Despite the fact, that my job at the time, was dragging me down. I found any tiny bit of joy that was in my day and added it to my list. By the time I was done listing three things, my mood had always picked up and I found myself looking for the positives in other things.

You can apply this habit at the end of your work day too. This is a perfect activity for your commute home. If you work from home, then remove yourself from your home office and take five minutes to remember three good things that happened to you that day.

6. Utilize Smart Breaks

Smart breaks replenish the mind and body. Without a good break between tasks, you won’t be able to stay productive. You know how inefficient your brain becomes when you work too hard, whether you are studying or working on a project for hours at a time. You get cranky and start to cut corners.

The difference between a smart break and a regular leisure break is the focus. Anyone can take a break, but most breaks don’t really help you release your stress and prepare you to go back to work. A smart break is an optimized break that allows you to rejuvenate yourself.

I’ve been guilty of not taking smart breaks. I would waste my “break time” either stressing out about the task I was working on or worrying about something else in my life. I had trouble relaxing my mind in order to replenish my creativity.

I needed to learn to relax in the moment and not let any thoughts distract me from my purpose.  When I returned to work on my project and I could still feel my mind going to mush, I figured out that the best thing for me to do was just to get up and start walking somewhere, anywhere. My favorite place is outside. Nature is a great source of calm and replenishes my energy. I’ve found that a walk outside allows me to go back to work with a fresh angle on the problem.

The best part about taking smart breaks is that the more a person utilizes this stress reducer, the more it helps. It also takes less time with practice. You will eventually learn to recognize when you need a break and know exactly how to reenergize yourself back to feeling good. A few years ago I needed 15 – 20 minutes to replenish my energy. Now I can usually recharge in 5 – 10 minutes.

Once you find out what works best for you, just keep tweaking it until it becomes a habit that you look forward to. Once smart breaks become a part of your routine, you’ll find that you are more motivated and productive.

7. Speak Up and Take Action

You may be the most peaceful person in the world and perhaps this makes you happy, but when you aren’t being treated fairly you have to speak up. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

Bullying at work has become an epidemic that needs to be addresses by every organization.

“From the data obtained, the researchers tell SINC that 14% of the respondents have confirmed having suffered situations of psychological abuse over the past six months, with 5.8% suffering frequently and the rest, 8.2%, occasionally.”
- escience news from the article Bullies have harassed 14 percent of workers over past 6 months

This research was done in Spain, but bullies are in every organization.

I had a boss who loved to bully me. He would verbally abuse me. He once told me that he could have a monkey do a better job than me. There were days when I would go home and cry. I felt lost and out of options.

I hope that you never experience this situation, and if you do then please create a plan to change it and take quick action.

That may mean talking to the person who is bulling you or finding a better situation. You have options and people do want to help, but only you can take control of your happiness.

8. Use More of Your Strengths

As I age, I learn more about what I’m good at and what type of projects energize me. I love the thrill of discovery and teaching. That’s why I love Work Happy Now. I’m constantly discovering what makes me and my readers happy at work, then finding the best angle to teach others how to discover their own work happiness.

It wasn’t until a few years ago, after studying hours of career speakers on YouTube, Ted, and dozens of other sites, that I realized the importance of working with my strengths. I realized that my strength was in writing to discover.

I never thought of discovery as a strength, but it certainly is. I just thought it was just something I did. Once I understood what excited me, I tried to do more of the type of work that fit with my strengths.

You can also find a way to use your own strengths at your job so you can leverage more happiness. That may mean volunteering for work that you enjoy doing even if you have a full plate. Hopefully your manager and co-workers will notice and try to give you more work of this kind.

Bear in mind that this will take patience. It takes time to retrain people on what type of work to give you.

You Can be Happy at Work

Now is the time to feel happy at work. You can’t live for retirement. That’s no way to survive.

You should never settle for average. You have a ton of creativity and energy within you; all you need to do is find the right fit. It just takes a plan and some action to make it happen.

If you need a little more help… I’ve put together a Happy at Work Project to help you discover your own work happiness. The Happy at Work Project PDF (it’s free!) is a document that will help you diagnose your issues. If you like it, you can email me at karl (AT) workhappynow (DOT) com and I’ll send you the Work Happy Now Weekly Planner and Resolution Ideas. They will help you build upon your foundation.

Whether you need a little tweak at your current job or a complete overhaul, don’t put it off any longer.

You have an opportunity to do great work that makes you feel happy and excited. Don’t let this moment slip away. It may seem like a difficult task, but I promise if you build slowly, you will find yourself in the career of your dreams in no time.

***

Sometimes we just need to slow down and simplify our lives. That’s why I visit Zen Habits. It always gives me a new persective on every day issues.

***

If you enjoyed this article I think you’ll like these too:

• My Work Happiness Manifesto
• Stressed Out and Loving It
• The Necessity of Giving Gratitude at Work

***

Images courtesy of Teriyaki Matz’ and Éole

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I have a co-worker who just finished a big project. She was bouncing off the walls with giddiness. She took the project to her boss and it was confirmed. She did a fantastic job. She came back to her cubicle with a huge smile on her face.

 “I feel like my stress just floated away,” Alice said.

“Cool, so she liked it,” I said.

“Liked it? She loved it!”

She was on cloud nine for the rest of the afternoon. She poked fun at me, herself, and anyone talking to her. Just her playful style. Her energy couldn’t be suppressed.

Her boss does have a lot of faults, but who among us doesn’t? None of this mattered because her boss applied a golden rule…

“Make employees feel cool.”

I must admit that her boss has a talent for this. She can make a person feel special at just the right time.

Alice was nervous before she presented the project and her happiness was dependent on her boss. Her boss could feel this and responded appropriately.

When a boss watches for what an employee needs, they can respond aptly. Hey, sometimes they need a kick in the butt and other times they need a “You are awesome!” The more a boss is in tune with his/her employees, the more likely it is that they will encourage brilliant work.

*

When you get a handle on your habits that’s when life supports your needs. I read Zen Habits to teach me these tools.

*

Did you enjoy this post then why not join my RSS feed via email or online reader and stay updated on every post? It’s good for me and you – because a happy you makes me smile.

*

If this article was your type of thing then click on one of these:

• Change Messes With Everyone
• 6 Exercise Hacks While You Are At Work
• 55 Tips to Make Work More Fun

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Pikes Place, a fish market in Seattle, is known for its fun style of business. They toss fish around as if they were footballs.

They have a sign that says, “Caution: Low Flying Fish.” Any business that has a sign about low flying product must be having fun. The employees love working there because they are engaged and willing to “ham” it up. The allow people to have fun and hire people according to their superpowers. They make sure that their employees are excited about creating a great experience.

People from all over visit this historic place to buy fish and watch the show. So it also attracts customers who are looking to buy quality fish and have a fun experience.

Everybody wins!

John Christensen noticed the magic at Pike’s Place and created a documentary called “Fish!” which then spawned the book Fish Philosophy. There are four main concepts that Fish Philosophy focuses on. They are…

Be There

An employee who is engaged in his/her work isn’t concerned about anything, but the job at hand. They are there to do good work. It’s hard to put ourselves in the moment, but the more we can get lost in the work the more fun it is.

“It means getting out of your own ‘world’ so you can BE THERE for someone else. It means setting aside emotional baggage from the past, and worries about the future in order to appreciate the opportunities you have available to you, right now.”

- Fish Philosophy handout

Choose Your Attitude

What we choose to focus on will determine how we feel. If all we do is complain about making more money or wanting a better boss, we are creating a negative mindset. If we choose to focus on our wonderful co-workers and how we enjoy the work that we do, we are choosing to see the positive in our situation.

“Most of us believe our attitudes are caused directly by outside influences like unpleasant experiences or negative people. But while external pressures may trigger our feelings, we are the ones wearing those feelings like a suit of clothes. We can either be subservient to external events, few of which we have any control over, or we can take charge of our own response.”

- Fish Philosophy website

Make Their Day

We talk about the importance of gratitude on this site, specifically giving gratitude to others. Gratitude makes the giver feel good as well as the person who receives the compliment. When we stop worrying about how we are going to be happy at work and focus on helping others be happy, the byproduct is that our happiness increases.

“At a deeper level, “make their day” means taking a genuine interest in the unique gifts of others. Spontaneous or planned, when you make the effort to brighten someone’s day—not because you want a reward, but because that’s the person you want to be—you receive an internal gift that makes life even more meaningful as well. No matter what, making someone’s day is a win-win. Every single time.”

- Fish Philosophy website

Play

Having fun at work is a must. If all a company does is make products and push them down people’s throats then work is a drag.

“An ‘all-business’ approach has a human cost: It’s not inspiring. We shut down emotionally and many who might make creative contributions keep that part of themselves at home.”

- Fish Philosophy handout

Fish Philosophy and Work Happiness Go Hand in Hand

When we work in the now (Be There), stop complaining and start noticing the good in our lives (Choose Attitude), recognize the importance of giving gratitude (Make their Day), and have fun at work (Play), then we are creating a work life that makes us happy.

And we all know happy employees give the best results.

*

As you know employee engagement is so important to creating an environment that supports employees emotional needs, so check out David Zinger’s blog that focuses on creating more engaged employees.

*

If you enjoy the content on at this blog then stay updated by subscribing to my RSS feed.

If you like this article I have a good feeling you’ll enjoy:

• Bring Hope Back to Your Company

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Google has an internal website called “Google Ideas.”  Googlers submit their suggestions on how to improve a product or how to make things better at Google. Their co-workers can read this site and give their feedback by rating the suggestion and leaving comments. Management monitors this website very closely so they can stay abreast of their employees’ feelings.

Opinions Matter

Your company can create an expressive outlet for your employees. This will empower them to make suggestions that will probably help the company function better, creating engagement and loyalty.

You need to show your employees that their opinions matter.

You don’t need a computer program to keep track of all the suggestions. All you need is a box where employees can anonymously drop in suggestions as well as encouragement from the company explaining the importance of giving this a fair try.

Implement and Watch What Happens

This may be hard to foster in an old-school company, but there is always hope. It starts with small steps. Explain how it will improve employee engagement and customer loyalty.

Implement the program for only a month and watch the magic slowly occur. It’s like magical fairy dust that lifts morale and improves the company.

I know I’m pouring it on a little thick, but trust me it works.

If the employees don’t come up with some awesome ideas that make them more productive then scrap it, but if they do then you’ve just struck employee gold.

*

Work Happy Now created an ebook to share some of Google’s secrets on how you can grow your company and be happy at work. You’ve just read a chapter from the ebook. It contains enlightening and practical information that businesses and employees can all use.

We will be publishing a new chapter every Tuesday. If you don’t want to wait that long for this glorious information then just sign up for my RSS or email and receive the Free eBook “Work Happy the Google Way.”

If you liked this chapter from the ebook you’ll enjoy these too:

• Pajama Day
• Design Friendly Atmosphere
• Does Your Mission Inspire?

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!