Cultivating a Supportive Environment

With competition becoming increasingly present in the work force, encouragement has become quite a rare occurence. Despite this, there are plenty of simple ways that you can make your staff feel supported and appreciated. In celebration of the National Encouragement day, here are some basic ways to cultivate a supportive environment that can motivate and inspire just about anyone!

Smile. A smile has many benefits. First, a smile is super contagious. It not only lifts your own mood, but also lifts the moods of those around you. Even when you are having a bad day, looking at a picture of a baby with a candid smile can lift your spirits. Second, a smile makes you appear sincere, relaxed, and reliable. This greatly aids in your ability to encourage those around you.

Promote teamwork in an enjoyable way. Intentional and conscious teamwork is perhaps one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and promoting this improves camaraderie, chemistry, and synergy in the workplace. There are a lot of great team building exercises and games that can help cultivate this. These games can be simple and eco-friendly such as repurposing scrap paper for a competition on who can build the best flying paper plane. Getting different company departments involved can add to the fun and make it easy to build teams.

Show Appreciation. Even simpler,a sincere “Good job!” is enough to convey your appreciation and encourage your employees and coworkers. This short and simple statement illustrates numerous things. It indicates that their actions are appreciated and reveals that they aren’t being taken for granted.

But perhaps, their achievements deserve more than just a “Good job!” Maybe, it was a championship win, a graduation, or even a promotion. It was an accomplishment in which words alone could not truly convey how proud you are. In this case, gifts would be a great way to show your appreciation. An iPhone 5 case of a coworker’s favorite team or a classy pen for a promoted employee are magnificent ways to show your appreciation and provide encouragement.

Cultivating a supportive environment is important because it affects people’s moods and behaviors. The workplace can be a stressful environment, which can cause employees to become fatigued, agitated, and less productive. However, if you are positive and supportive, employees will be more energized and motivated. This energy and motivation will create a chain reaction and energize other employees as well.