Energize Employees Through Appreciation with a Twist
April 30, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
When supervisors dole out praise, it’s often very vague and focused on the entire group such as “You’re doing a great job, keep it up.” Sometimes managers just don’t know what to say or how to say it. After all, you don’t want to say the exact same thing to each person – it can sound contrived. Take a clue from the flight attendants who have mastered the many ways to say hello and goodbye to hundreds of passengers a day. Put a twist on how you praise. These sentence stems should get your brain jump started:
I’m impressed with…
What I particularly liked was…
Our team is better because of your…
You’re on the mark with your… (or the British would say, “You’re spot on with your…”)
You can be proud of yourself for…
I’ve noticed the quality of your work, specifically…
Your contribution of……on that last project was amazing
One of the things your customers rave to me about you is….
Your colleagues have sung your praises about…..
I’ve been noticing your attention to detail and in particular….
How awesome are you to do…..
You rock! Would you like to share some of your trade secrets with our managers….
You really made a difference by….
Our top management has been noticing your work and have commented on….
Take the rest of the day off for your fantastic effort with the…..
One of the things our team enjoys most about working with you is…..
I appreciate your….
You make my day by….
You’re quite a role model because of your….
I’d like to acknowledge your specific role in doing…
This place would not run as effectively if it weren’t for you and your…
That should get your started – go ahead and print this out for your cheat sheet and then write down each of your team member’s names on a day of the week in your calendar and use one of these sentences with each person on their day. Make it a habit.
Now goodbye, see ya, bye now, bye bye, so long, thanks for flying with us, tootles, adios, ciao, auf wiedersehen, see you soon, see you on your next flight….
Beat Boredom at Work
April 23, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Have you ever been bored at work? I can’t remember being bored for the past decade since I became psychologically unemployable and started my own company. But I do remember those days in my W-2 job where I would be chomping at the bit to do something meaningful, take action, talk to customers or just have some forward motion. I’m thrilled to be interviewed for a recent article in Vitality Magazine – www.Vitality.com on the topic of how to beat workplace boredom.
My article isn’t shown on their website, so if you want a copy send me an email with the subject of Vitality and I will send you a copy of the article to help you energize your workplace environment. I would also suggest my card deck 51 Winning Ways to Have Fun at Work. It’s a real card deck that has a fun tip on each card, so you can play Go Fish and select an idea to improve workplace morale. And if that falls through, then you can always win some cash by playing a rousing round of poker with the cards.
Here’s a tip to beat boredom – find work that is in alignment with your authentic self, your values, your beliefs and the big picture you envision for your world. What is your big picture and how do you fit your knowledge, skills, abilities and talents into that big picture? Where is that delicious intersection of what the world needs and wants and your special gifts? Find that intersection and you will never be bored, in fact, there won’t be enough time in the day to do everything you want to do to move your vision forward. You may even find it hard to sleep because your mind is racing with new ideas of expanding and growing your dreams and desires.
Check out my other articles on fun in the workplace and improving motivation, morale and meaning at work at: http://www.funcilitators.com/resources.htm. Let me know what else you are doing to beat boredom at your workplace. I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Laughter, Levity & Longevity
April 20, 2007 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
As a Certified Laughter Leader (Yes, that’s an authentic credential!), I’ve been researching the benefits of laughter for over 10 years and using it with success with my clients. The field of laughter and fun are eeking their way into the mainstream of industry and society. Today is a milestone, as we make headlines with a 2-minute video as well as 3 articles on the benefits of laughter on the popular website WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/video/laughter-heals.
Laughter connects us, and that alone has health benefits. Victor Borge said that shortest distance between two people is laughter. Average adults laugh around 15 times per day, while studies suggest that children laugh around 350-450 times per day. Laughter energizes us and no wonder children have so much energy. When you see that laughter is draining from your daily routine -take stock of what is going on in your life and plug those drains. Laughter builds resiliance to stress and will help us cope with our challenges. Not that we are laughing at our stressful situations, we are laughing through them – it’s a coping mechanism.
What have you laughed about today? What are you doing in your life to bring on more laughter and bring on better health? Laughing helps boost our immune system, decrease the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol and stimulates the blood flow and heart and decreases pain. It’s like internal jogging and easier to do. Check out my card deck – 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work for one tip per week on putting more laughter and fun into your workday. I also have Zip Kits: Fun Aid Kits for Stress Rescue and Recognition on the ParaFUNalia page at http://www.Funcilitators.com.
Laugh Long & Prosper!
Energize Your Life Through Job Satisfaction
April 18, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
How happy are you in your job? What is your job satisfaction? Duke University’s study found that job satisfaction was listed as the #1 factor in living a long life. Job satisfaction beat out 788 other factors as the key to longevity – beating out good health habits and good genes. Now there’s more evidence. The 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago cites the most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits after interviewing over 27,000 workers.
Top 10 most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied with the job:
Clergy—87 percent percent
Firefighters—80 percent percent
Physical therapists—78 percent percent
Authors—74 percent
Special education teachers—70 percent
Teachers—69 percent
Education administrators—68 percent
Painters and sculptors—67 percent
Psychologists—67 percent
Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent
Operating engineers—64 percent
Office supervisors—61 percent
10 least gratifying jobs, where few participants reported being very satisfied:
Laborers, except construction—21 percent
Apparel clothing salespersons—24 percent
Handpackers and packagers—24 percent
Food preparers—24 percent
Roofers—25 percent
Cashiers—25 percent
Furniture and home-furnishing salespersons—25 percent
Bartenders—26 percent
Freight, stock and material handlers—26 percent
Waiters and servers—27 percent
How satisfied are you with your job? What can you change if your current position if it’s not the most satisfying? What do you love to do and how can you incorporate that (appropriately) into your work? How about not having a job at all? How about making a living without a job? More on that topic later…..
Big Picture or Little Picture View of the World
April 12, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Do you have a big picture or a little picture view of the world? Are you stressing over the administrivia or are you focused on the big picture of your life and your career? Take a look at what types of things stress you out – are they the small details, the perfectionism, the imperfect people, the gray areas on the outskirts of the black and white? Sometimes we make our own stresses and create our own energy drains by focusing on things that have less impact than the power we are giving them.
It’s tax season and focusing on numbers is something we all need to do, but getting crazed if your account is 94 cents off isn’t such a big deal in the scheme of things. Of course waiting until the bitter end and not leaving yourself wiggle room can also make you crazed. Step back from some of the situations you find yourself in and see if you’re stressing out because you’re focusing on little picture stuff. Perhaps you need to take a look at the big picture and if the stressors that are affecting you now will really matter in the scheme of things a few weeks, months, or years from now.
The big picture sometimes can pull us through the little picture stuff when things get tough – keeping our eye on why we are doing what we are doing can keep us going. Are you focused on big picture stuff or little picture stuff most of the time? Are you drowning in details or do you have paralysis by analysis? Is it taking your eye off the main goal and draining your energy? You may want to hire out your little picture stuff and have someobody else who loves doing it do what they love and allow you to keep your energy focused on your big picture. It can sure help your sanity – especially at tax time. We can all use a little energy boost at this time of year.
Embrace Imbalance
March 21, 2007 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
I know I’m supposed to be living a balanced life, as I walk my talk showing others how to lead more simplified, balanced lives and prioritize the things that matter. I find myself inundated lately with a symphony of things that seem to command my attention all at once. It’s at this time that I believe we need to embrace imbalance and go with the flow while letting go of some things for the time being.
Perhaps we can’t balance on a daily schedule, maybe it needs to happen over a span of a week or a month. When you know you need to gut through things or a plethora of projects for a month or two, then you brace yourself for a little imbalance during that time, as long as you can reward yourself with new balance at the end of the sprint. Having balance is all good and well, but sometimes it just isn’t possible and we need to get clear and what to do and what to drop.
What do you need to do and what do you need to drop today or this week in order to come back to center, regroup, re-charge and re-energize yourself. Get fiercely focused, get ready for a sprint and then find some fierce fun at the end of it all and reward yourself for your accomplishments. My reward for these past 2 months is a cruise and a trip to Cabo to mix some fun and effectiveness. What’s your reward?
Planning Playtime to Increase Your Energy
March 16, 2007 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Geeze, where has the time gone? I didn’t abandon you – just been up to my eyeballs in deadlines, projects and building a new house. In the midst of it all, I guess there was a slow news day or something, but Stephen Covey’s people notified me that I would be the cover girl for one of their other magazines in the Executive Excellence Publishing family of publications: Health & Fitness Excellence. Visit http://www.EEP.com. For a copy of the article on Planning Playtime to Organize and Energize Your Life, send me an email to Gail@GailHahn.com.
Other news is that this blog will be moving in the near future to another site. I plan on revamping my current website and making the front page a blog so you only need to visit one place.
Here’s a question for you: if you could plan a girlfriend getaway as part of your playtime planning, or just a personal escape to refresh, renew and recharge your batteries; what would be some of the things you would like in your escape haven? What types of activities would you like to do? What types of food? What types of environments? Would you want any guided facilitation or just to “be” in an inspirational place? Let me know your thoughts of what you would like for a FUNomenal Woman Weekend or an Energize Your Life Retreat and I will send you a free report on energy gains and drains.
Thanks for your insight!
Happy Herd or Mad Cows at Work
December 15, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
Happy Holidays!
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the wind-down of the season and the many festive office parties that are sure to abound. In appreciation for your support and adding light to my world, I wanted to share this pdf version of the new issue of Stephen Covey’s Sales and Service Excellence magazine that features Fun*cilitators and our article on Contented Cows – How to Create a Happy Herd at Work through mixing fun and effectiveness. It hits the bookshelves in January and I wanted you to have a sneak peek – I thought you might like to get a jump on your competition and be the first on your block to get the inside scoop on building a better team.
If you want a copy of the magazine article in a pdf version, send me an email at Gaia@gaiahart.com to get your own copy and share it with others who may be just chewing their cud at work.
We’ve stocked up on our 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work card deck to prepare for the upcoming publication date. If you want 52 more ways to have more fun at work in addition to the article, send me an email or give me a call to order your own card deck chalked full of ideas, tips and tidbits to practice safe stress at work. 866.Fun.at.Work or Gaia@gaiahart.com.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
