News flash: even the people who enjoy their jobs often find themselves stressing out. That’s right, just because you love what you do, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be sunshine and rainbows all the time.
Between presentations, important meetings, fast-paced environments, and deadline-laden schedules – life can come at you fast. Therefore, it’s important to learn how to manage your stress in the workplace because if you don’t, you’ll wind up bringing all of that negative energy and unwanted buildup home.
So how do you manage your stress once it takes hold and how can you regain your work ethic?
Fun In The Workplace Can Boost Productivity
Have you ever considered having fun at work? Before you write this off for sounding ridiculous, hear me out: studies have shown that the contemporary workforce responds well when embracing a relieving level of fun in the workplace.
You heard that correctly – having fun not only provides working professionals with a boost of motivation and productivity, but it also results in reducing the rates of absenteeism – meaning less sick leave and more time spent in the office working on projects. This is especially true when it comes to co-working spaces,.
These office spaces for rent come readily equipped with an assortment of table games and leisurely activities. With shared office spaces on the rise, maybe you should consider embracing the future of alternative workspaces, right?
Something to consider…
The correlation between fun in the workplace and sick days: Having fun had a positive impact on how many days employees took off of work due to sickness or injury.
- Nearly 62% of employees who had had no sick days in the last three months reported frequently having fun at their workplace.
- Nearly 48% of employees who had not experienced having frequent fun in the workplace had been out of work sick for about 11 or more days, compared to 42 percent of those who had.
Downtime In The Workplace Kickstarts Productivity
While the concept of being able to relax at work – especially in a traditional office setting – seems far-fetched at best, in a co-working space this is considered the norm.
In fact, this is one of the primary reasons that so many working professionals have turned to purchasing a co-working membership or co-working monthly pass. Just ten minutes to yourself is all you need to help jumpstart your motivation and push your projects in the right direction.
Don’t believe me? The proof is in the numbers. A research study conducted by a British interior design company, Dale Office Interiors, surveyed 500 members of the general public and asked them what they believed was an integral part of a successful office space.
You know what most of them agreed on? Having a space to relax. One in every five people believed that having a designated space to relax at or even work away from their desk at, would improve their overall productivity in the workplace.
Something to consider…
When businesses look out for the well-being of their clientele, the results are always positive: By being able to offer employees designated spaces to relax at or work away from, co-workers and employees are benefitting their overall health and eliminating issues such as eyestrain, sore hips, poor circulation and chronic backaches.
- Relaxing releases the body’s feel-good hormones such as serotonin, oxytocin and prolactin. Even doing something as simple as petting a dog for 15 minutes is capable of lowering the body’s stress hormone, cortisol.
- Human touch releases serotonin and is capable of reducing an individual’s blood pressure and heart rate, making them more relaxed. Sometimes shared office spaces have in-house masseuses, which is an automatic stress reliever right there.
Adult Field Trips Boost Camaraderie, Facilitate Bonding
If you’ve begun to notice some poor body language on your colleagues, you can imagine that it’s time to get the troops rallied and ready for another week. Co-working spaces are a great example of how the concept of adult fields trips could come in handy here.
By organizing a group outing in a shared workspace, employees are put in a position where they can get to know their peers in a more intimate and less intimidating environment.
Not only do workplace field trips facilitate team bonding, but they’ve also been reported to immensely reduce employee stress levels, allow for colleagues to learn more about each other and seize the opportunity to have fun away from an otherwise serious environment.
Whether you’re going to a baseball game, a hockey game, a concert together, some museums or even out to dinner one night – the interpersonal rewards are endless.
Something to consider…
By organizing group field trips, you’re allowing for employees to connect with each other on another level: You can’t work in an environment that’s all work and absolutely no play. By allowing employees to experience events together and by taking them out of a stressful environment, you’re improving worker-relations and your own worker retention rates.
- A study conducted by Columbia University shows that the likelihood of job turnover at an organization with high company culture is a mere 13.9 percent. By creating outings to increase the likelihood of worker relations and trust, there is low turnover.
- On the other hand, the probability of job turnover in a company that has low company cultures is 48.4 percent – an alarming statistics but a byproduct of a company that doesn’t put the employee first.
Engage In Team-Building Activities And Exercises
It’s important to know that your co-workers have your back during times of adversity and it’s even more important for them to know you’ll do the same. More and more companies are taking after shared office spaces and grabbing a page out of their book by organizing in-house events and classes to help raise spirits and improve work quality.
The bottom line is simple: achieve a happy workplace and eventually, things will fall into place because everyone knows everyone and if any situations arise, typically they can solve themselves.
It doesn’t matter how big or small the event is, whatever the case may be – team-building activities are important.
Maybe look at the weather for the week and choose a day that’s going to be beautiful. Divide everyone in the co-working space, shared office space or workplace into groups and create a scavenger hunt around your local city.
Or you could even organize a comedy and improv event that provides employees with an interactive experience that they’ll never forget. Encouraging laughter is huge for your employees and at the same time, you’ll be teaching them useful communication and invaluable skills such as trusting a stranger.
