Work makes up a large part of our lives. Nearly a third of our time is spent working. Some more. Some less. If it’s stressful it can obviously affect your life in a large way. It can lead to issues in other areas of your life.
As a leader in an organization you likely want to create a good place to work. A place that employees look forward to coming to or engaging in each day. It’s obviously not possible to create the perfect work environment, but improvement is an attainable goal.
Here are a few thoughts on how to create a good place of work.
1. Work/Life Separation
I went into the workforce at an interesting time. It was 2007. Cellphones had been fairly mainstream for only about five years. Maybe a little longer. Texting was actually fairly new. I remember I had a plan that allowed to send and receive a total of 200 text messages. And I rarely went over.
Email was a common form of work communication, but nearly everyone, at least in my office, only checked their email while in the office. I remember a select few would check late at night at home.
Then the iPhone came along and seemed to change things. In some work settings it became possible to be connected to coworkers and employees all the time. And for some expectations kind of crept in that we should be connected all the time.
Aim to create a separation for your workplace. Being connected all the time. Even sending messages during “off” hours can lead to an anxious team.
2. Half-Full Buckets
A few years ago I started thinking about life as I was carrying a bucket of water. I filled that thing up full and struggled to keep it from spilling as I carried it. Then the next time I filled it about halfway and carried it fast and efficient.
The world is incredibly abundant. But like most things in life that comes with two sides. The negative side to abundance is needing to make decisions so you don’t add too much to your life. This leads to stress and anxiety.
We can do just about whatever we want with our lives today. But we can’t do everything.
As a leader in an organization it can be easy to add tasks to what your team is already working on. Instead, focus on your priorities. Aim to stick to them. Schedule audits of the things your team is doing and look to trim the priority list from time to time so they don’t get burned out.
3. Problem Solving vs. Blaming
One thing that gets people on edge at work is the blame game. They walk on eggshells not necessarily doing their tasks, but trying to avoid mistakes. And obviously we want to avoid mistakes. But they do happen. We try to do them rarely. And if something new occurs we try to fix it. That’s life.
Aim to take the problem solving approach to mistakes. Look toward the future and how to fix things. See what you can do to help. Maybe there was an issue with the procedure. Or with the hiring process. Blaming employees can lead down a slippery slope.
4. Shared Values
Part of the hiring process is figuring out what the values of the company are. That likely means what the leaders value. It probably originates from the founder(s) of the company. Who they were is likely who the leaders and employees are today.
The first part is discovering the values. The next part is looking to hire for those shared values. This way a team member is more likely to fit in. They’re more likely to naturally align with expectations.
There is no right or wrong set of values. Companies can succeed in many different ways. But when you don’t understand the values of your company it can lead to all kinds of frustration.
5. Accountability
When we work with others we like to know that it’s a somewhat fair situation. Favoritism and a lack of accountability can really poison a workplace. It can make people feel that giving full effort isn’t worthwhile. It can lead to infighting and all kinds of other negatives.
Again, it’s not possible to have a perfect situation. But aim to hold people accountable for certain actions. Aim to keep things as even as possible for what occurs. This lets people know what to expect when certain things occur.
Conclusion
You want your workplace to be a good one. It leads to better work. You attract great employees. And they work hard for you. But it’s largely up to you to make the situation better. Hopefully these few ideas can get the ball rolling toward the improvement you’re looking for.