In today’s world of employment the majority of us spend more time with our peers, colleagues, line managers, teams and in the work environment than we do with our own families, friends and in our home environment. As much as there are high volumes of content and many resources available on work-life balance and work-life integration, many still find the balanced primarily skewed towards “work” as opposed to “life”. If we are spending all this time at work then shouldn’t work at least be inspiring, engaging, motivating and fun?!
Initiatives such as The B Team already set out to support employers in creating 100% Human Workplaces
Creating more positive and conducive working environments does not need to come with a big price tag or major business restructuring. Much of it is about mindset, challenging our own belief system and underlying assumptions about work, creating platforms for joint dialogue and human interaction.
So concretely, what can this look like?
As a manager what are 3 things you can do differently this week to inspire a greater sense of pride, purpose and belonging amongst your team? Perhaps take 15 – 20 minutes to check in with the individuals on your team to find out what work elements they are currently struggling with, what is going well for them and what parts of the job they are enjoying. At the same time, you may want to take this opportunity to grow and learn yourself. Solicit feedback from your team to hear how you can be a better manager for your team. What does your team need you to improve on, be more involved in or stop doing altogether?
As a team member think about 3 way you can connect better with your peers and colleagues this week. For example, do you have someone who joined the team recently? If so, what are things you can do to support them to get up to speed and integrate more easily? Link up with someone from another department, learn something new and find out what they are working on and where there are areas for greater cross-departmental collaboration. Or maybe spend some more conscious time in dialogue with your peers to understand what they appreciate about your working style and contribution and which areas you can work on to contribute to a better team environment.
Maybe you have other tips that have worked in your own workplace to help create a more positive, conducive and engaging environment.