9 Ideas to Raise Morale at Work

1. Use an existing incentive program or make one up yourself!

Collective bias has started using an incentive program called YouEarnedIt.com. When a coworker does a good job on something you can reward them with YouEarnedIt points. After accumulating enough points, you can redeem them for prizes.

I gave out points regularly when we first started with the program, but noticed recently that I had been forgetting to give points out to coworkers consistently. My friend Monica came up with the perfect solution! She set a calendar reminder for once each week. She reflects on the week and recognizes coworkers by giving them points for doing a great job!

I loved the idea so much I had her add my team to her reminder and it has helped a lot!

2. Compliment Your Coworkers.

Verbal compliments go a long way! It feels so good when someone tells you that you are doing a great job or that your outfit looks nice. It makes them smile which in turn makes you smile and both parties feel great.  Next time you come in contact with a coworker give them a compliment, but always be genuine. Don’t say, “Great new haircut,” if inside you think it looks awful. Keep it real and be honest.

3. Write a thank you card.

I recently started hand writing thank you notes to coworkers.  There’s just something special about a sealed envelope that feels like opening a present. Write a special thank you note saying how much you appreciate someone. If you don’t say it, they will never know. Thank you’s go a long way!

4. Be social.

Say good morning, hello, good afternoon…SOMETHING when someone walks past your office or you walk past theirs.

Don’t be that person that gets to work, goes straight to your desk, buries your head in your computer and doesn’t come up for air until the end of the day. No interaction will make you feel isolated from the rest of the team and it’s the least social thing you can do.

Start and end your day right for you and your co-workers’ happiness.  Chris Clark is the master of morning socialization in the Collective Bias office.  He walks into my office just about every morning to shake my hand and say good morning!  I truly feel this gesture makes or breaks my day!

5. Change it up!

Don’t go for coffee or lunch with the same people every time.

Change up who you are spending time with outside the office. When you head to the coffee shop for your afternoon fix, ask someone you don’t normally invite if they’d like to join you. You’ll get to know your co-workers better and build better relationships with them. You may find out you have more in common than you thought!

6. Say “thank you”.

Saying thank you is one of the simplest forms of flattery you can give someone. It shows that you acknowledge and appreciate something they did. And it’s just polite!

Whether it’s a hand written note as I mentioned above, a simple email reply, a phone call or a face-to-face communication – Say thank you!

7. Pick up the phone and say “hi”.

My entire team telecommutes, so I spend a lot of time on the phone! Google chat can be convenient, but picking up the phone gets most things done faster and you have that time to talk more deeply about things. It’s important to make that real connection and it always opens up new conversations and ideas you never expected to talk about.

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