http://mergespeaks.com/blog/">Turning Managers into Leaders

Over the summer, we ran an online poll asking the question:

Is your workplace fun?

The poll closed last week, and here are the results … (drum roll please) …

• 45% said Yes or On Most Days

• 33% said Every so often

• 22% responded in the negative!  

Yikes!  22% said that they didn’t have fun at work!  Given that we spend so many of our waking hours at work, methinks that if  you’re not having fun, it’s not worth doing!  So why is it?  Why do you think over one-fifth of our respondents go to a job, day after day, where they aren’t having a good time?  Is it the money?  Fear of not getting another job?  What?

Workplace fun has been shown to increase employee morale, boost creativity and innovation, enhance performance, improve organizational commitment, and decrease turnover.  When employees look forward to coming to their jobs each day, they are more engaged in their responsibilities and they also perform better on the job. All very good reasons for you to create a playful and productive environment in your workplace! But … would your employees say that they find their work environment enjoyable, entertaining, playful and encouraging? If not, then it’s time to add more humor and merriment to your workplace. And it is possible to do so without sacrificing professionalism and performance.

Join me, Merge, for one fast-paced and content-rich hour in which I’ll show you exactly how to use fun and humor to create team cohesiveness, improve communication and creativity, and reduce stress. Not only that, but I’ll give you specific examples of what other high-performing organizations are doing AND teach you what YOU can do to achieve the same level of success in your organization or department.

Click here to register now

See how the most successful companies bring fun and humor to the workplace, learn specific and practical ways to do it for yourself, and find out how to overcome the obstacles that get in your way.  And if you act before September 7, you can take advantage of early bird savings!

Here’s some of what you’ll learn:

• Five definitive actions you can take to create a fun and creative work environment AND a highly-motivated team
• Specific examples of what other high-performing organizations have done to create fun workplaces AND insights into what YOUR team might consider “fun”
• What the research tells us about the connection between workplace fun/humor and employee motivation and team performance
• A simple model that lays out how five specific styles of humor can be used to achieve six very desirable organizational outcomes
• The six critical and necessary principles for creating a fun workplace

Join me on September 14, 2011 at 11 AM MDT. Early bird pricing in effect ONLY until this Wednesday September 7!

Click here to register, or for more information.

So the research unequivocally shows that employees who have fun at work are also more motivated and productive.  Which means that if you’re a leader, it VERY worth your while to create a work climate that your employees find enjoyable, entertaining, playful and encouraging.  But not at the sacrifice of professionalism and performance!  On Wednesday September 14, I’m leading a live Audio Conference on exactly this topic — using fun to motivate your team and maximize performance — and I’ll be opening the lines for questions.  So tell me — what is one thing that I could help you with or one obstacle that I could help you overcome in order to create a fun, positive and productive workplace? Go to www.AskMerge.com to ask your question and I’ll answer as many as I can on September 14.

And while you’re at www.AskMerge.com, be sure to vote in our “fun” online poll.  Tell us what your workplace is like, an see how others have answered this question.  Just click on the link on the bottom left of the screen.

Earlier this year in a previous blog post, I told you about the Hawthorne Effect – ground-breaking research on employee motivation by Dr. Elton Mayo in the 1930’s.  In a nutshell, Mayo discovered a fundamental concept that may seem obvious to us today: that workplaces are social environments and people thrive in positive and respectful surroundings.  So, as a leader, when you create a positive atmosphere at work, you are much more likely to secure your employees’ cooperation and loyalty, and thus improve productivity and performance.  Which leads to the next obvious question: what are some specific things that you can do to create such an environment and motivate and encourage your employees to peak performance?

Here’s one very effective approach: take steps to raise the self-esteem of your employees.  And the simplest and most influential way to do so – offer genuine and sincere praise for the things that they do well.  The keys to success – first, your praise must be genuine and sincere, and second, keep in mind that saying “thank you” is quite possibly the easiest alternative there is.  Now you may think to yourself that you do this already, but wait just a moment … let’s conduct a little experiment.  Tomorrow, before you go to work, put ten pennies in one pocket.  Read the rest of this entry »

The research shows there is a direct correlation between fun in the workplace and employee productivity.  In fact, fun at work is also directly linked to increased morale, greater creativity and innovation, enhanced performance, higher commitment to the organization, and lower turnover.  So what is your workplace like?  Is it a fun, playful and productive environment … or not.  Participate in our online poll; it will take just a moment.  You can see up-to-date results right after you vote, and I’ll report the final results right here on my blog on September 15th.  Click on the link below.

Go to online poll

Is your workplace fun?  Participate in our online poll; it will take just a moment.  Just click below.

Go to online poll

You can see up-to-date results right after you vote, and I’ll report the final results right here on my blog on September 14^th.

Today I asked my professional colleague and friend Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP, to guest on my blog and I was delighted when she agreed.  As the “Queen of Customer Service”, Ruby works with front-line employees to help them deliver great customer experiences.  Here, she  offers insights into what makes a great leader from the employee’s perspective.

Would you work for you? How does reporting to you feel? Do you show interest and concern for the employees who report to you? Does the work environment that you create inspire employees to eagerly come to work every day or dread every moment on the clock…or maybe somewhere in between. And most importantly, what can you do to make it better for the employees who report to you and make you look good?

1. Thank staff for the work that they do. No matter how many times you think you say thank you, you need to say it more. People who work hard need recognition for what they do. In frequent programs I ask” How many of you feel too motivated on your job?” I have never had anyone raise their hand.
2. Communicate in a professional manner. After a conversation with a staff member, reflect back on the circumstances. Did your words maintain respect for the employee as a human being? Was the tone considerate? Was the timing of the conversation appropriate? Was it in the right setting? Did you take the employee aside so their peers did not overhear the discussion? Remember, praise in public, share failure and counsel in private. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re in a position of leadership, then you know that it takes effort and support from others to get things accomplished.  And very often, the unsung heroes in our workplaces are administrative professionals, small, oft-silent armies of people, working behind the scenes to make things happen.  In years past, we called them secretaries, some are referred to as executive assistants, still others are labelled support staff.  Whatever the name, these are the people who keep all the moving parts oiled and the systems and procedures humming.  Since today kicks off Administrative Professionals Week, the question of the day is:

Have you thanked your administrative professionals lately?

Besides the verbal thanks, you may also want to consider something a little bit more special for this week (or perhaps save it for Wednesday which is Administrative Professionals Day).  Believe it or not, food or flowers is not the first choice.  According to a member survey conducted by the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), an overwhelming majority of support employees much prefer opportunities for learning and growth.  Consider tuition reimbursement and/or a flexible schedule to work towards a degree.  Or paid membership and the option to participate in professional organizations.  If you must buy a “gift”, think about business-related items such as personalized business cards, desktop nameplates, computer hardware and software upgrades, or ergonomically correct accessories.

What are you doing to celebrate Administrative Professionals Week?  Please tell us by adding a Comment below!

P.S. Did you know that there are more than:

• More than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants and an additional 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles in the United States
• More than 475,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada
• Millions more administrative professionals working in offices all over the world

[Source: IAAP]

In today’s fast-paced world, you’d expect the biggest workplace challenge for business professionals would be the rapid advance of technology, or the need to keep abreast of the competition, or the myriad of options when it comes to raising financial capital.  Yet over and over again, the managers and supervisors I work with tell me something completely different.  “Managing and motivating employees” is their toughest challenge they tell me.  “Not that the other decisions are unimportant,” they explain.  “It’s just that if you are having trouble inspiring the troops, the other challenges can become secondary.”  There are no magic pills when it comes to encouraging and motivating your staff (I wish), but one of the answers to this leadership conundrum, believe it or not, has been known for quite a while.  In fact, the basic principle of human motivation that helped revolutionize today’s theory and practice of leadership was actually discovered, quite by accident, in the early 1930’s.  The Hawthorne Effect, as it has come to be known, demonstrated that the mere act of showing people that you are concerned about them usually spurs them to better job performance.

Here’s a quick history lesson.  Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Canada Day.  The day when Canadians, who normally are known to be pretty low-key when it comes to outwardly expressing their emotions, throw off their inhibitions and proudly and loudly declare their patriotism and affection for our country.  For one day at least, fluttering flags, maple leaf logos, and red-and-white attire become par for the course.  And if you’re American, Independence Day is coming up this Sunday.  You too will be demonstrating your exuberant allegiance to your nation by donning your red, white and blues.  You’ll celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, barbecues, concerts and baseball games.  No matter which country I happen to be in on both those days, I love watching and being a part of the enthusiasm and the excitement.  And I wonder how we could recreate this level of loyalty and passion in our organizations, or at least in our departments.

This is a complex question so there is no single definitive answer.  However, I do have one idea.  Celebrate! It has been my experience that we rarely build in the time and the resources to celebrate.  We just don’t celebrate enough.  We accomplish something notable and substantial, but before you know it, we rush off to accomplish the next big milestone.  We don’t stop and celebrate.  We don’t acknowledge the achievement in a significant manner; we don’t deliberately and consciously thank the people who participated; we don’t take a break to ring the bell, or eat the cake, or hand out the small tokens of appreciation.  We just don’t celebrate enough!  Perhaps if we celebrated more, we could get a greater degree of loyalty and passion in our departments AND in our organizations.

What do you think?  What else could we do to create patriotism in our people when it comes to where they work, and who they work for?