Making the Workplace Fun

Highly motivated employees often find their motivation from working in a pleasant office environment. It is to your advantage to make your workplace a happy place for your employees -- the more they can play and relieve stress, the harder and more efficiently they'll work.

Here are some creative, action-oriented ideas to help you inject a little "fun" into your workplace:

• Allow for flextime. Giving your employees some flexibility in their work schedules shows your concern for their personal lives. In addition, allowing employees to work from home occasionally can be a great motivator, making the days in the office a lot more productive and less stressful.
• Schedule exercise breaks. There's no reason you can't copy what many larger corporations are doing these days -- squeezing in stretch/dance breaks throughout the day during which employees step out of their offices or cubicles to do a group stretch to music. Every week pick a new exercise and a new stretch leader to get everyone going.
• Cultivate fun. Make your office an exciting place to be by holding frequent contests, celebrations, and team-building activities. Surprise everyone by ordering in lunch or by starting out the day with coffee and pastries in the kitchen. Be creative.
• Lead with laughter. Understand that taking 15 minutes to laugh will increase productivity, not reduce it. People think more clearly and operate more productively when they've had a break that clears the cobwebs from their brains. Laugh a lot and encourage your team to do the same.
• Encourage mini time-outs. Encourage everyone to relieve daily stress by taking a few minutes to do something they enjoy. A small break in the day's routine can really reinvigorate a person's thought process. Take short breaks yourself and encourage others to take them. Do whatever helps you to disengage from the project at hand: work on a crossword puzzle, listen to music, talk a walk around the block, or browse through a nearby bookstore.
• Find the humor in negative situations. Lead the way in joking about difficult situations in the company. When people can laugh in the midst of a impending deadline, make fun of themselves after making a mistake, or share the story of a horrendous (but humorous) customer experience, they can defuse a lot of tension and stress. They also clear the way for themselves and others to work on those issues with greater enthusiasm and clarity.
• Create a fun squad. Ask for employees' ideas for ways to add fun to the workplace. Consider creating a "fun squad" whose job is to dream up ways to bring lighthearted fun into the office. Let people use their creativity to raise the level of laughter, and there will be creativity left over for more concrete business objectives.
• Acknowledge anniversaries. Celebrate the day each employee joined your team. Let them know how much you appreciate their contributions with a small gift, cake, or token of gratitude for the role they play in the company.
• Build a "Wall of Fame." Designate an area where you can post pictures of team members, thank-you notes from clients and customers, and clippings about the organization's success. Celebrate your people whenever and wherever you can.
• Step out occasionally. Plan occasional group excursions to get everyone out of the office once in a while. Have a group lunch in a nice restaurant, hold an off-site meeting at a museum or botanical gardens, or take everyone on an impromptu trip to the movies.
• Designate a humor corner. Transform one corner of your break room or other area into a humor corner. There you can post cartoons, funny quotes and pictures, and other illustrations designed to relieve stress.

 

[Source: AllBusiness.com]

Life Lessons from Football

Life Lessons from Football
by TSK. Raman

Football is an amazing game. The most popular sport
all over the world. Played by many, wacthed by many.
An estimated 45 million people will watch Italy taken
on Franc in Berlin in the finals on Sunday July 9,
2006.

In some ways it is the mirror of life.  Yes, other
sports provide life lessons as well, but football
though it doesn�t happen to be my number one
favorite
sport but it is one which I understand pretty well.
Of late I�ve been following this game more than I do
any other. Though not the best followed sport in
India, the Premier League, Europen Football being
shown on TV more and more these days, is gaining
popularity albeit slowly.  It is an experience, not a
mystical experience though, but a test of character,
an escape, a source of rare joy and excruciating pain.
No psychological test will tell you as much about a
person's character as a game of football.  I�ve seen
many a match now and some of the best players in
action, and here are some of my observations about
football and the game of life:

1. Expectations & Flexibility.

Football, like life, is not mastered in a season, and
it is particularly frustrating if we approach it with
stiff and inflexible expectations.  Great football
begins with stretching, bending, loosening up, and
matching desired outcomes with the realities of a body
grown lazy over the off-season time. There is a lot of
action, combativeness and emotions involved in the
sport. I�ve not seen too many footballers display
humour. A sense of humor, and a sprinkling of humility
go a long way!

2. Clarity of Purpose.

Many footballers never stop to think about why or how
they play the game. One reason obvious is that all of
them play to win. To have fun. To earn fame and money.
But the question that comes into my mind is whether
they play for social reasons, or for the challenge?
For the exercise?  Just as striving to become rich and
famous often creates frustration and disappointment,
few will play professionally, and striving for
perfection is a setup for "failure".  It is therefore
important to know why you play the game and where you
find your satisfaction and joy in it.

3. Equipment.

The one game that needs least equipment. It needs a
just ball and a good pair of studs.  Active
footballers check their studs for weitgh, flexibility
of leather, grip of the studs, and the size (not too
loose � not too tight), and have them re-made every
season. Almost any job is easier with the right tools.

4. Solid Foundations.

Footballers go to extremes.  Some take lesson after
lesson, trying to fix the tiniest flaw in their quest
for the perfect trap.  Others, ignore the classic
foundations of trap, instead laern more of dribbling
in their eagerness to "do it my way."  Success is
usually found in a healthy balance of learning from
the wisdom and experience of others, while celebrating
your unique style and approach to the game. So then
trapping a pass, dribbling and making acurate passes
are the basics which all footballers aim to master all
the time.

5. Profitable Practice.

On the day of a big tournament, they often go to the
green and watch skilled, dedicated footballers
practice.  With a small crowd milling about, they
quickly hit ball after ball, to keep their rhythm,
timing and confidence.  They, harldy let any
frustration creep into their armoury, they  carefully
honed their skills  In football, like any other game
and in life too, we need to learn to practice smart.
Practice for success!

6. Smart Preparation.

Tour players always play practice matches. The great
Pele used to walk the course at twilight before a
tournament to learn all it�s hidden tricks and
traps.
Top players rehearse every shot in their imagination
before going to the turf.  They prepare in advance so
they are ready when the moment of truth arrives.It
pays off.

7. Show up.

The biggest challenge for many professional
footballers and other young players is to play their
best football without a nickel in their pocket, often
lonely and far from home.  They have reasons to be
distracted.

8. Warm up.

Every great athlete, the ones in the best physical and
mental shape, respect their bodies enough to loosen
up, stretch and rehearse before competition. Even
amateurs need to go tthrough all that trouble. Before
any important event, arrive early, walk around, relax,
and warm up to the task at hand.

9. Focus on Results.

Every footballer works to create a result. Sometimes
they are known to muff the easiest of chances, like
the present icon of football David Beckham missing a
penalty shoot-out,  sometimes it goes out of bounds.
Footballers tend to focus
(1) on the result they would have preferred, which is
merely wishful thinking, or
(2) on beating themselves up for being so "stupid",
which is painful.  Learn from every match.  Observe
the results they actually get and all the tactics they
used or misused.  Life never lies!

10. Review and Adjust.

If they don�t get the results they want, they find
the
reason.  They can trust the manager for that. If they
want a different outcome, they change their setup,
routine, or other actions and their entire gameplan
including substitution, until they get the result they
prefer.

Someone said, "Doing the same thing over and over and
expecting a different result is a mark of
consistency."

Successful people learn quickly; others learn
eventually.

Do preserve yourself & others while evolving continuously...

Heart of Leadership

Heart of Leadership

... From Oppressive Obligations to Incredible Opportunities

by Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE

 

The phone isn't just ringing, it seems to be screaming. You've got yet another meeting to attend, there's someone at your office door who wants a piece of you and now another call. Your blood pressure is rising almost as quickly as the demands made of you.

 

When you answer the phone, your tone of voice gives you away. The caller recognizes that it probably isn't a good time to talk. When you turn your attention to the person at the door, your impatience and abruptness sends them away feeling diminished. Your energy level is on empty when you finally get to the meeting late and your attention wanders as important issues are being discussed.

 

Later that night after dinner, you have little time and even less enthusiasm, to spend time with your kids. You think that maybe if you get a couple of hours work done you can get caught up before tomorrow...

...and you wonder why the success you've worked so hard to achieve doesn't make you feel, well, successful. It wasn't that many years ago that you didn't get invited to high powered meetings, the phone rang less frequently and you weren't the first person people went to when they needed advice. And now, it seems, you aren't enjoying your success, you -- and the people around you -- are suffering from it.

 

One of the common dilemmas of the workplace today is that people are working harder to get more done with less resources. And for many, it just isn't fun. People are busy making money, but often by giving up any sense of meaning.

 

I know. Several years ago I was close to premature flame-out.

Thankfully, I had good problems: my business was so brisk that it was hard to keep up. My involvement as a board member of a national association increased my load of responsibilities and I was traveling nearly non-stop. Not only wasn't I having much fun, I found it increasingly difficult to give people the attention and consideration that they deserved. When the phone rang, I didn't want to answer it. I wanted to smash it.

 

I knew that soon I would be experiencing the repercussions. When we aren't having much fun, neither are our clients, colleagues or families.

 

I wondered how can anyone could live happily and lead effectively with so many oppressive obligations? Thankfully I made the time to find an answer.

I stepped back to review everything I've learned by studying and working with effective leaders. I thought about all I'd read about the lives of great people. And as I pondered it all, I was struck with an insight.

 

The people who change the world -- their companies, communities and families -- rarely acted out of a sense of oppressive obligation. The people we call leaders almost always act out of a sense of incredible opportunity.

They don't change the world because they have to; they change the world because they want to.

 

I don't think Mother Theresa wakes up in the morning and mourns, "Oh Lord, not more lepers!" She is a woman doing some of the hardest work on the planet, and she seems to be having more fun doing it than we who sit in our air conditioned offices. How can that be?

 

It is a matter of perspective. When we feel harried and pressure, we tend to look at our circumstances as obligation. Yet other view the same circumstances as opportunity. It comes down to how you frame you life.

I learned to reframe my business and life from obligation to opportunity, and it has made all the difference. When the phone rings now, I have a different response. I now view an incoming call as an opportunity to serve, earn, influence, network, learn, encourage or teach. The difference isn't in the nature of the call; the difference is in my response.

 

There isn't much I really have to do in life. Sure, like you, I have a commitment of providing for my wife and son. But I could accomplish that by diminishing greatly my current workload, or even by changing careers. My colleague Ian Percy said he found from experience that his family didn't really want all the money and trappings of affluence. They would have gladly live in a trailer as long as they had him.

 

As you read this, you might be facing dire circumstances. Foreclosure may threaten, relationships may be on the brink of disaster and you may be wondering about your ability to put food on the table. I would never make light of those kinds of situations but -- and please think about this carefully -- even in the worst circumstance lies an opportunity. It is the opportunity to overcome, to save, to improve. I know many highly successful individuals who faced similar situations and worse. What has enriched their lives most was the challenge to overcome and learn from them. In the darkest hour, someone they saw opportunity.

 

I appreciate simplicity. I keep a post-it note over my desk. On it are three handwritten words: obligation or opportunity. That becomes one of the most important choice I made on a daily basis, moment by moment.

I would like to impact the world around me in some way. I would like to add to the lives of others, rather than pass by them like an invisible phantom. I would like to think that my efforts did more than earn a living, that they helped create a better life for myself, my family and the clients I served. And now I realize that that the chance to accomplish those things is not an obligation, but the greatest opportunity of all.

 

Tay Chinyi, Helena

Oscar Murphy International

Life Strategists, Behavioral Trainers, Coaches & Change Agents

Email: taychinyi@oscarmurphy.com

Phone: Mobile: 91 9342241727 Office: 91 80 41161534 / 35

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