From meetings and lunches to body language and communication, we could all incorporate these small but important things to make our work environment a more positive one.

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1. What Went Well? (WWW)

In meetings, you can start with a check-in that allows people to quickly share a highlight from their work/personal life. In a bigger group, this could be done in pairs. This helps people enjoy connecting in a meaningful way, and learn something new about their colleagues. Alternatively, your team could convene periodically to discuss what went well for that week/fortnight/month.

Caution: If people are overloaded with unnecessary meetings, this may not be appreciated. Being mindful of running meetings that are necessary, efficient and productive is important.

2. Debrief For Strengths And Learnings

Instead of only debriefing on mistakes or room for improvement in a project, celebrate all the efforts – what worked well, strengths people used, lessons people learned and growth attained. And avoid calling them “post-mortems”!

3. Eat Together

Ever heard of the saying, “The family that eats together stays together”? That’s true for teams, too. While it isn’t necessary to eat with your team every day, team lunches allow people to connect in a more relaxed setting – provided you’re not discussing work! Enable colleagues to get to know each other on a more human level by talking about things that nourish people. If you do talk about work, share positive gossip about people who did great things at work. Be curious but not intrusive. Be interested in people’s lives, hobbies, passions, and what you sense they feel comfortable to share.  Learn from what you find inspiring.

It’s natural to ventilate about challenges you face but stay mindful that the lunch doesn’t become a complaint-fiesta. Help people leave the lunch emotionally nourished and uplifted rather than drained.

Perhaps you can have fun with conversation cards like “smol tok” which provide questions.  (Available from starknicked.com)  Choose cards that are appropriate for your setting.

One study showed that going out to eat helps more than eating at the work canteen, so aim for this periodically with your team.

4. Favor Positive Feedback Over Constructive Feedback

How do you feel when someone constantly tells you what you need to fix? And how do you feel when someone points out what you’ve done well? If asked for feedback, take the time to highlight what works, instead of only singling out the areas of improvement. This way, people can continue to build on what they do well, and feel more uplifted.

5. Enjoy “Micro-Moments” Of Uplifting Connection

A “micro-moment” of connection may be a short and seemingly inconsequential interaction. Dr Barbara Fredrickson, who runs a laboratory on positive emotions at the University of North Carolina, encourages us to pay attention to the power of these.

Make eye contact and smile, even when you pass by someone in the corridor. Dr Fredrickson says, “Eye contact may be the most potent trigger for connection and oneness” and that a smile “more so than any other emotional expression, pops out and draws our eye”. So if you want to see a real improvement in the emotional climate within the workplace, emphasize the importance of physical presence. It beats electronic communication big time when it comes to building positive relationships, and encourages kindness and appreciation in the office.

Be a role model and put away the phone (somewhere you won’t be able to even feel the buzzing!) when you are talking with someone, and encourage this throughout the office. Walk over to someone’s cubicle and have a conversation instead of sending ten emails to work something out. Or, pick up the phone if personal face time is not possible.

6. Leave A Positive Imprint With E-Communications

When you do need to use electronic means to communicate, always remember that you leave a positive, negative or neutral imprint emotionally. Because you’re in front of a screen instead of a face, you may forget this.

If you want to build up positive emotions, be intentional about that in your communication. For example, one genuinely felt smile emoticon or remark of kindness or appreciation in an email/text message can instantly transform it from neutral to positive.  Just as you do a spell-check, do an “emotions-check” before you press “send”!

Share this with your team. What would you all like to start practising?

_{Edited by Nedda Chaplin
Photographs: Shutterstock}

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