Strive to treat people like you want to be treated.
Life can be hard—and it can throw some defeating blows. However, I believe that the winners and the ultra-achievers in this world manage to see life as a glass half full. Such people also tend to enjoy life more than others. How can we bring joy into the lives of the people around us? It’s actually pretty simple: Strive to build a work environment that is infused with motivation and fun.
I started searching for something to boost morale because I know that a happy employee is a productive employee. I set out on a mission to make sure that we had nothing but happy, productive team members all of the time. We created a list of 28 Fun Items that involved everything from Silly Sock Day to Silly String Day (we willingly brought silly string into our office and shot it at our co-workers—and even a few clients). Over the next few months, we introduced a variety of new fun activities and theme days to the group. After a short time, the bad vibes had all but disappeared, and smiles and laughter once again filled the office.
One activity that has produced great results for bonding and motivation are periodic impromptu team lunches. We’ll surprise the team by shutting down the office for an hour or so and treating everyone to a special meal. We like to do this when a team member has a big victory, or for a personal celebration like the graduation of a child, a birthday, or really any reason to celebrate. It’s good to recognize and celebrate both the big things and the minutiae of life. (Because isn’t life really about the minutiae anyway?)
Regularly plan a fun Friday afternoon, evening, or weekend event for the team. One afternoon, we met the employees of a close friend’s brokerage firm at a bowling alley for some friendly competition. We also take team members on fun trips during the holidays. A former client was in the limousine business, and we all got to ride in style to a big dinner and theater event. It felt like a true VIP experience for everyone involved. We invited all of our employees and their spouses, some of our clients, one of our vendors, and our IT person—just to let them know how much we appreciate them and all they do. It’s good to include the spouses when you can because support received at home rolls into the office.
Do your team members feel as important as the people you serve? If not, start telling them how important they are today—or better yet, start showing them. It’s important to take care of the home team as much as you take care of anyone else in your business dealings. Human beings tend to take the people closest to us for granted, but if you want to have a world-class team that supports your world-class organization, treat them like the elite group of team members they are.
Sometimes it seems like a lot of organizations focus on what their employees need to improve. I wholeheartedly agree that coaching and improving upon areas of weakness are instrumental to the growth process, but I also believe that equally important is letting others know what they are doing right. If you want your best team members to stay with you and exceed their own expectations, you must provide positive encouragement, motivation, and fun.
A lot of the time, it’s the little things you do that set you apart from your competitors. People start talking about your organization, how you treat your employees like family, how you genuinely try to help people, and how you strive to treat other people like you want to be treated.
To learn more about how to be successful in your business, contact Mike Stromsoe’s Unstoppable Profit Producer Program. We can offer guidance, helping you perfect your professional posture. We also offer a premier wealth creation program that helps you to work less, earn more, and enjoy life.