If upon reading the title of this entry you rolled your eyes, I hear you. I’ve had jobs that I’ve loved and jobs that I hmm… didn’t love, and know that it is not always easy to be happy at work. Poppin is the first place I’ve worked where ‘working happy’ is practically a requirement. (After all we’d be pretty big hypocrites if we weren’t actually happy.)
Creating this type of company is certainly work in itself and it is something that we work at everyday. Here are some of the tricks of the trade…
- Find your ‘Person’ (or ‘People’). Identify the person or people with whom you can chat with for 10 minutes a day when you need a break. Just having that relationship will make you feel more at home in the office.
- Start your own traditions. Have things that you and your co-workers do together every day, every week, every month or every year. Traditions create shared memories and they bring co-workers together in a way that feels more familial than corporate.
(TGIM: we celebrate the new work week at our regular Monday Morning Meetings.)
- Invest yourself in your work. I know this part doesn’t sound too happy, but the results can definitely be smile-inducing. You can do this by resolving to be the best at what you do and do the best you can everyday. The benefits of this will stick with you long past this one job and you’ll thank yourself later. Promise.
- Acknowledge your co-workers strengths and successes. If you think someone is doing an awesome job tell them! Everyone likes a pat on the back now and then and it tends to be contagious. Once you start getting positive feedback from one another, you are more motivated to do well for your team. Appreciating one another goes a long way.
(Merrick and Luke taking a short work break to play some mini-ping pong)
- Work Hard. Play Hard(er). Remember work and play are not mutually exclusive. If you are continuously accountable for your work, you are entitled to some playtime. Let yourself have it. Actually go to a restaurant for lunch, grab drinks after work with your co-workers, play that hilarious YouTube video for everyone, whatever works.
(we joined Stunner’s of the Month for a good monthly office laugh)
