Building a positive culture in the workplace, part 2

WWW.SHAPINGCHANGE.COM.AU
BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
TIPS FOR A BETTER WORKPLACE

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
Martin Seligman, positive psychologist and author of the
2011 book Flourish, developed the PERMA model, which
details the five elements that must be in place for us to
experience lasting well-being.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
The five elements of the PERMA model are:
P: Positive Emotion
E: Engagement
R: (Positive) Relationships
M: Meaning
A: Accomplishment/Achievement

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
In this second installment of our PERMA model series,
we'll discuss the second element in the model, which is
Engagement.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
Imagine a workplace where team members are more
engaged with tasks, projects, and situations, making for
an environment that acts like a well-oiled machine,
breaks productivity records, and leaves everyone feeling
accomplished and fulfilled.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
Positive psychologist Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi wrote a
book called “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience” and in it, he discussed how we experience
flow when 1) the challenge before us is significant and
interesting, and 2) the challenge requires well-
developed skills.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
On the contrary, if team members don’t feel challenged,
they’ll feel apathetic toward a project. And just as well, if
they face a challenge they feel ill-equipped to handle, it
will cause anxiety.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
The key is to match projects to the appropriate team
members based on their talents and skill sets to avoid
boredom, resistance, stress, and worry.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
Additionally, there are two more things you can do to
further cultivate engagement in the workplace:
1) minimize distractions as much as possible
2) help your team members improve their
concentration.
What follows are methods to achieve one or both of
these outcomes.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
Encourage team members to schedule specific email times
throughout the day; you can even schedule a few 30-minute
slots for important work-related exchanges. This way, team
members aren’t constantly refreshing their inbox around the
clock. When email programs are not in use, encourage your
team to sign out of their servers and close the browser entirely
so that they’re not tempted by distraction.
1.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
2. Additionally, you can use special software applications that block
users from accessing certain websites for certain blocks of time.
Your team might find this personally useful when they’re knocking
away at big projects.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
3. Encourage team members to silence their cell phones during
high-peak hours (and ideally for the duration of the work day) so
that incoming calls and texts don’t break their concentration.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
4. Ensure that you and your team members are prioritising your
to-do lists. Delegate tasks as needed and concentrate on the most
important and urgent projects first before worrying about anything
else. This will help you to avoid overwhelm.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
5. Make sure everyone on your team is taking care of their bodies!
Staying hydrated helps our brain operate at peak performance as
do energy-boosting foods like almonds, fresh fruits, and
vegetables. It’s also important to refrain from remaining stationery
throughout the day, as body movement improves focus.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
6. Assess the work environment: is it inviting? Pictures, landscapes,
and/or soothing colors can help reduce anxiety and provide your
team with a calming workplace. Background music can also be
effective, such as white noise, nature sounds, or soft instrumentals.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
7. Encourage team members to take short breaks throughout the
day. Dogged determination is admirable but it can also lead to
burn out and a lack of focus, which means more mistakes can slip
into a task. Instead, it’s important that team members step away
from a project for 10-15 minutes on the hour—the brain will
subconsciously work at the problem while they do.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
8. Rewards and incentives! These can be great motivators to keep a
team focused on crossing the finish line when used correctly but
team members can also develop self-rewards of their own, even if
it simply means getting a cup of coffee one they finish a section of
a project. The sky’s the limit—the key is to nurture a reward the
team member will enjoy working toward.

BUILDING A POSITIVE
CULTURE
We hope you enjoyed this presentation!
Visit www.shapingchange.com.au for more resources on
leadership development, change management,
emotional intelligence, and more!

Building a positive culture in the workplace, part 2

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Building a positive culture in the workplace, part 2

More from Ros (Boucher) Cardinal

Recently uploaded

Building a positive culture in the workplace, part 2