Research has shown that positive work environments lead to more engaged employees, healthier work relationships, and improved productivity. Whether your team is working in the office or working from home, encouraging morale is important. Here are 6 ways supervisors and managers can promote positive attitudes in the workplace. Consider how showing gratitude, modelling positive behaviors, using positive communication, fostering relationships, encouraging teamwork and promoting balance can make the difference. Are you wondering how to grow positive attitudes in your workplace? Consider the following suggestions to get started.
Show Gratitude
A simple “thank you” can go a long way in helping employees feel valued and appreciated. When you notice your employees going above and beyond, be conscious of showing your gratitude. Gratitude helps build trust, respect, and mutual appreciation within a team. Gratitude can include written praise, a thank you note, or even a small reward like a voucher for coffee at a local shop. Bottom line, showing gratitude makes people feel valued.
Model Positive Behavior
As a manager, it is your job to lead your team by setting a good example. If you want your employees to be positive and kind to one another, you must demonstrate that behavior yourself. Consider that everything you do and say may be held as an example of what one should do, (or what one should NOT do). Since your team will watch your behavior to learn what is acceptable, be sure and set a positive example.
Use Positive Communication
Knowing that communication has a strong impact you’ll want to consider your message, tone and overall impact. Positive messaging means communicating in a constructive way that motivates and encourages your employees. Your communication should be professional, clear, encouraging, and empowering. Positive communication will always make more of an impact especially if it is authentic and genuine.
Foster Healthy Relationships
Healthy work relationships are essential for a positive work environment. Find ways to connect with your colleagues by smiling, asking about their families, offering support and advice for work-related projects, treating them with respect, and being understanding of personal needs. It is important to find a healthy balance between being warm and personable, but maintaining a professional connection.
Encourage Teamwork
Managers should encourage teamwork along with collaboration. This is vital to creating a positive work environment. Managers need to take the time to promote activities that include communication, partnering and working together on projects. Furthermore, they should look for opportunities to provide social interaction such as coffee mornings, team lunches, family picnics, and team building activities. This gives employees an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with their colleagues.
Promote Balance
Another way to encourage positive outcomes in the workplace is to encourage a healthy work-life balance. Working too much can be draining and can leave employees feeling burnt out. Aim to give employees a reasonable workload and get resources or additional supports as needed. Knowing that most people feel good with time off, and a sense of accomplishment, help your team schedule vacation and time off on a regular basis so they are rested when they return to work.
To sum it all up, by using all six of the strategies above, managers can help boost morale in their team members leading to a more productive workplace.
