With all the drastic changes to the workforce and after such a trying year, you probably need some ways to help de-stress and energise your team for the new year.
While you can't control everything in your employees' lives, you can create a positive and productive work environment.
Give these strategies when trying to help de-stress and energise your team this year.
1. Lay off on the tough-love approach
All managers have their style, and as a business owner, it's your responsibility to lead and succeed.
However, if you generally lead your employees with tough love, you do more harm than good.
Providing feedback with a 'tough-love' approach can lead to higher work-related stress in your employees.
Instead, try approaching situations with empathy and understanding. Your employees will likely feel more comfortable making mistakes and, therefore, less stressed.
2. Take regulated breaks
Regulated breaks for your employees can result in better productivity.
Allowing your employees to focus on a different activity (even for a few minutes) is a quick and easy way to recharge before starting another task.
Try encouraging them to get up and move. Want to make it more enjoyable? Set them a challenge that they can improve on each week. For example, get them to do a simple exercise for 15 seconds, like a lunge or plank, and increase it each week.
Another great way to regulate breaks is implementing a no eating lunch at the desk rule. By forcing people away from their desks, they have an opportunity to focus on something else.
3. Mindfulness and meditation
A great way to de-stress and energise your team is to provide resources for practising mindfulness and meditation.
While it's not something that should be forced onto your team, providing them with the necessary resources gives them an option.
A few resources to consider are an app subscription-like Mind Space or a virtual meditation workshop that could be worked into your corporate budget and listed as an incentive.
With more and more people trying meditation and mindfulness, this is an excellent addition to your company culture.
4. Try having healthy-ish snacks
Providing snacks in the workplace is easy to show your employees they're appreciated.
However, snacks that are too unhealthy or contain lots of sugar can reduce productivity and result in sugar crashes.
5. Organisation
When was the last time your employees cleaned their workspace?
By organising their workspace, employees can increase productivity and energy. Once a quarter, set aside an afternoon for you and your employees to give their space a clean.
Find ways for the entire team to contribute and focus on a different area each time if you have large or lots of spaces needing some TLC.
6. Laugh
Finding time to laugh during the workday can de-stress your team and increase memory recall.
Why not spend a few minutes watching a funny video with your team to relax and refocus. Try and be consistent with setting time aside each week for a bit of a laugh and continue to have different ways of doing this - with a video, lame jokes or sharing funny stories.
7. Six positives for every negative
When was the last time you gave your employee negative feedback? Now think back to when you gave your employee positive feedback? Do the negatives stand out over the positives? If so, they'll stand out for your employee too.
Negative feedback can have a long-lasting effect on your employees compared to a positive one.
Researchers have found that a team's success isn't just a skillset but their negative to positive comment ratio.
Summary
Six positives to every negative may seem like a lot, but they're the ones that stick with your employees the most. Put the six and one rule in place for all your employees, which is a standard practice within the office.
Any time you give feedback, remember the rule of 6-1. The ratio will strengthen your company culture and will have long-lasting effects.
Following these tips can create a better work environment and help your employees feel great about coming to work.
For more ways to de-stress and energise your team, visit our blog here.
