A strict ‘heads down’ work ethic has never been good for morale, instead it subdues innovative thinking and creativity which could drive your business forward. As a new business/startup, you may feel the pressure when it comes to time and money. We’ve come up with some ideas on how to create an enjoyable working environment that should hopefully foster your productivity, as well as your colleagues.
Positivity should drive your employees to be more productive. By creating a space for your employees to feel content in, this should improve the way they approach their work; happiness also comes with giving people a sense of control and vision, therefore you should encourage shared input and appreciation.
This may seem an obvious point, but a social work place makes a happy workplace.
- Create an online community; An informal way of sharing ideas and keeping in touch with one another about certain projects. An online community will also allow your employees to create contact links and reach out to a wider audience. Social media platforms are good at helping generate healthy discussion because employees feel like they can share their ideas in a more casual format.
- Encourage peer to peer learning; Create teams of workers instead, and allow them to meet regularly in a meeting room or even out of the office to discuss projects and collaborate. This will open up opportunities for socialising, paving the way for problem solving and creative thinking.
- Regular feedback; It may be an idea to get your employees to share with the rest of the team every morning what they will be working on and the concerns they have or goals they wish to aim for by the end of the day. This will allow team members to speak freely and openly about the issues they may be worrying about, whilst also encouraging other team members to offer help/their expertise.
- Days out; Without sounding like you’re trying to organise some kind of a school trip, take some time to get to know your employees outside of work. Arrange a day out of the office to help team members bond with each other (this doesn’t necessarily have to cost you a bomb, it could be as simple as going to your local pub).
Opportunities for collaboration can help employees start seeing themselves as valuable team members, leading to a boost in employee morale and, ultimately, motivation and productivity.