Wear your happy hat to office

All work and no play make offices a dull place. Here are ways to enliven the environment and keep employees charged up

We all have our share of I-hate-my-job moments but with a little attitude shift and our engaging ideas you might just stop staring at your watch to rush back home.

Decide your goal

The goal can be to earn money, improve family conditions or just do some exciting work. Says IT professional Prashanth Venkatraman, “If your goal is to earn money — then you wouldn’t mind being persistent in a sub-satisfactory job that pays well that should keep the happiness-satisfaction balance. Similarly if your goal is to have fun or enjoy work — then you can be doing a job that pays less but is pleasurable.”

Humour is the best medicine

Try and be the cheery person (even when you don’t feel it). You smile at everyone first and they will smile back. Psychologist Mini Rao suggests, “Don’t fret over trivial issues; laugh them away, things will lighten for you and everybody around you. Don’t let reprimanding by bosses get to you. Don’t bring your grumpy self to work if possible and goof around a little bit to keep things light. “The ability to laughand have fun not only makes work more enjoyable but also helps you solve problems, connect with others and be more creative.

Little quirks

An office need not always look like an office (read boring). A unique décor with happy photos or funny cartoons can liven up your cubicle. For instance staring at a ‘Keep calm and move on’ postcard might just make a tough day easy. You can have your own form of aromatherapy, a sweet scent to calm you when you feel frustrated or anxious. Stock your favourite snacks in your drawer to nibble. Sharing informal conversations and articles via Google drive and WhatsApp groups are a fun way to connect with the whole team.

Team activities

A pani-poori eating competition, playing TT/dart games or having a few board games in office to unwind during sparse work hours helps uplift spirits of the employees. People could organise a charity event at office where co-workers bring in unwanted items or pool in money to engage in some donation activity. Chandni Kalyanraman agrees, “Once a week we go out to eat and watch a movie once a month. We also buy things for each other. We act like family which makes it so special to come to work every day”.

Having a hobby

Being a part of recreational activities keep people happy at work as they always have something to look forward to. Says Siddharth Ravishankar, “Being a doctor and working in a hospital doesn’t give me access to many ways of turning work into fun. So, my friends and I often go scuba diving and it’s the excitement of such trips that keeps us going at work”.

What makes people happy?

Demanding challenging work keeps stagnancy in check. The bosses not raising eyebrows on being a little late to work keeps employees at ease. An appreciative sms/mail or honest feedback fosters growth at workplace. The lesser rules — guiltlessly browsing social networking sites sometimes, flexible dress codes and work from home option occasionally definitely boost productivity.

We all can’t be happy bunnies always but to try and be in a ‘happy’ bubble which can bounce off negativity when we are sucked into constant challenges doesn’t hurt too.