Why An Optimistic Workplace Is Good For Business

Whether you work in a huge, multinational business, within a small dedicated team of people or even by yourself if you are self-employed, being optimistic is really important.  Now I don’t just mean try to be optimistic yourself, but actually working in an optimistic workplace can really boost everyone’s performance.  Employees feel much happier and more motivated to get their work done, which is ultimately good for business.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to help.

An Optimistic Workplace Leads To More Engagement

There is no doubt that the happier employees are, the more productive they will be.  Now, happiness can be improved at work by engaging with employees more and looking to improve their working environment.  Sounds simple I know, but MANY companies don’t do this and self-employed people tend to ignore this all together.

A great way to engage more with employees is to set goals for them.  That way, they know what they need to aim for and can feel a sense of achievement when they complete it.  Better yet, get employees to input their ideas and views for their own goals.  That way, they have a much more clear sense of purpose over their own job rather than simply following the boss’s orders.  That feeling of ownership over ones job has a huge benefit to self-esteem and confidence.  If on the other hand people are just made to feel like drones who could be replaced by anyone else, then that isn’t going to evoke any positive emotions.

The Workplace

The workplace itself has a HUGE impact on people’s happiness levels.  I’m not talking about paying for an expensive office building with a nice view (as like everything, expensive doesn’t necessarily make it better), but how you use that working environment that makes the difference.

Many companies are investing in their working environment to improve staff moral and make it a place that they want to come to everyday.  A big trend at the moment is to do away with desks all together and just build an environment for people to congregate.  Trust is given to your employees to get on with their work however they like, which can even boost their productivity.

http://youtu.be/LB5utwRnfH4

Delegating Responsibility

One of the biggest factors to a happy working environment is to delegate responsibility between everyone.  Nobody wants to be told what to do, we are not children any more.   Equally people don’t want to be working all hours of the day when someone else in the same team/situation seems to be doing nothing.  All that does is cause friction and hostility between people.

If people feel part of an equal team, who has an equal say in how it is run and what they should work on, then that will greatly help productivity.