We know that life is full of misconceptions and myths and potentially damaging opinions and that we cannot remedy them all no matter how much we might wish to, but there is one we want to address. One that has started to bugs us a little bit. And it goes like this: work isn’t meant to be fun – that’s why it’s called work.
What a load of rubbish. Work is a part of life and life is meant to be super-duper happy, which is why we’ve started to wear t-shirts into the office that say, “happiness in the office is underrated”. Which it is. Happiness is what makes us work harder and makes us want to achieve more. It’s where satisfaction blossoms and helps us smile at those more frustrating moments.
The point is: there’s no good reason to have an unhappy, boring or dreary office culture. None at all. That’s why we’ve pulled together a list of little changes that have the power to make your workplace feel like Disneyland (even on a Monday morning).
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Personality Is Perfect
Forget about having white walls and drab furniture. Give your office space a splash of creativity and flair. Get all fun with the layout, paint the walls a vibrant color, hire an artist to create a mural somewhere, hire a creative copywriter to come and put a twist on those cliched inspirational posters, and give each room an accent of personality. Hang art up, have a quotes board full of funny things said in the office and have some fun.
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Open It Up Some
We get that the senior people in your business may need four walls of their own, but everyone else will simply feel stifled by the cubicle culture of modern offices. So tear them down. Get rid of that sterile silence and allow people the chance to collaborate and work as a team. Trust us: this will create a much more friendly, vibrant, open and tight-knit atmosphere, and you’ll see that reflected in the work produced.
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Crush Any Negativity
Negativity is the worst. It’s contagious in every way and that’s why you need to get on top of it. Just one person complaining about this or that can lead to a full-blown mutiny. It will bring everyone else down. So jump on negativity as quick as you can. If it’s someone being generally negative, pull them aside and ask them not to voice their negativity in a group. If it was someone talking about how they visited the law offices of Ivan M. Diamond because of a slip they had, address the hazard sharpish. If the issue is a line manager that’s making everyone’s experience a bit sucky, then talk to them. Whatever it is, don’t let negativity creep in.
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Flexibility Rocks
People like to have control over their lives as much as possible. It’s what makes us feel happy. That means the more flexibility you can bring into your office the more satisfied and over the moon your employees will be. It could be flexible working hours that allow people to work when they are more efficient, offering people the chance to work from home, especially to new parents or your creative teams. It all helps make people feel happy.