If You Want to Generate Smiles at Work Today

Written by Roxanne Brown

If you want to generate more smiles at work today, here are some ideas to help your team feel appreciated…

• In conversations, hold space for your team members to gather their thoughts and share ideas: "In this conversation, please feel free to take a moment to pause and reflect and then tell us what you think.” 
• Listen and take in a coworker's idea, then say, “Thank you, I hadn’t thought about it like that before.”
• Confirm you’ve heard a coworker correctly by stating back what you’ve heard: “Before I respond, I want to make sure I heard you. You said [restate what they said]. Did I get that right?” 
• Include colleagues in conversations because of their unique skills and expertise and tell them how valuable that is to solving the problem. 
• Point out how the results of a colleague’s work has shifted the culture of the company for the better.
• Tell someone how their work has specifically contributed to the team’s success, or better still, the mission of the company. 

Most of all, really mean it because these little moments add up! Help your colleagues feel seen and appreciated for what they’re most enthusiastic about and what they enjoy. Help them feel and know they belong.