Tips For Creating A Better Work Environment

[Jani]

I've been working at a company for a while now and I cannot unsee the dysfunctioning nature of people's behavior that ruin the mood and functionality to some degree. 

- Don't talk ill of anyone. Put some effort into trying to understand other people and their difficulties instead of speaking ill of them. When somebody gossips to me, I instantly think that I'm not an exception, I'm probably being shit-talked behind my back as well.

- Do what you're told to do. Ok, now this might not be the most pressing issue in most companies but there are instances where people neglect the task they're given because it doesn't fit into their common theme of work. Like, if a higher authority orders you to do something urgent, it becomes your current theme of work.

- Respect everyone. It hurts to see someone rolling their eyes at you when you're trying your best, puts you down a little bit for some time depending on person. Also giving praise to your colleagues of their good work means a lot. I love it when my work gets complimented, it makes my day.

- Let your colleagues vent their emotions when needed. Of course draw a line somewhere, but many of my colleagues respect it a lot when I listen to their worries and resonate with them. 

- Work hard. I've observed my emotional state both in lazing off and working my ass off, and I've come to feel a lot better about working hard and getting respected for it. It's hard in the moment, of course, but it pays off BIG TIME.

- Get along with everybody. There's a guy at my place of work who cannot properly resonate with other people's feelings and ends up hurting them verbally without realizing it himself (at least that's what I hope is happening). Getting along with one is tough at times, but helping them out here and there makes them respect you more and more (at least in my case).

- Smile. I'm not telling you to fake your smile all the time, but when you feel like smiling, don't resist it. And when people walk past you, giving them a smile makes them feel good. A smile tells you that one is happy to see you and enjoys being around you. In other words, work on becoming more genuine with your positive emotions and let yourself go with the positive flow when it arises. There are some people that beat down their potential positivity by different kinds of toxic patterns of thought. Positivity spreads as well, so it improves the overall mood in the working environment.

- Give people emotional space. Learn to pick up on cues as to when it's alright to be lifting the moods up with some jokes. Colleagues have their own lives too and shit happens to them as well. Some of us can't just see that. When some of my colleagues are having a bad day, I'm always ready to help them and ready to hear them out, but primarily respect their need for silence. 

I just had these things on my mind so I decided to write them down in here. Hopefully someone finds any help from this. Peace out!

[Nahm]

@Jani There is a state of mind you can obtain in which none of the negative perspectives you described exist. I would not expect you to believe me, and I hope you don't. In your current state, your mood & perspective seem to be dependent or at the least, influenced, by what other people think of you / getting validation, recognition, respect. These are the facets of the hamster wheel.  That's all ego feed. It's not helping you in the long run to feel good about that stuff in the short term. Get yourself to a place where you see that for what it is. Contemplating what others think of you is a waste of time. Praise & blame are all the same. When how you feel is only determined by you, you'll be running a company, not working for one. Please don't believe me. Believe in the practices. 

[Nahm]

@Nichols Harvey You are wise in not believing me. One of the best ego traps is expressing verbally what I've learned and giving references of others who have not learned it. This reveals it has not been realized, only learned. It may be clever observation, but it reveals a lack of practicing and building momentum.  It shows where the focus actually is. Clever camouflage. And, how old am I? What gender am I? See, you are doing the same thing as what I'm describing. Thinking you know and realizing are not the same. 

If the ability to focus was truly developed, the title would note 'creating a better work environment', and then the content would be about creating, not the current work environment and shortages of coworkers. 

Edited June 28, 2017 by Nahm

[S33K3R]

I have been in many toxic situations like this. My family is very toxic. In a situation like that you need to implement strategies as toxic people turn on you on a dime. I use methods from the 48 laws of power. Not to manipulate, but more to understand and interact without getting caught in any drama. Along side with the 48 laws I also use a "kill them with kindness" approach. When people try to gossip you will need a way out that feels comfortable. My solution to something like that would be to show kindness to the person that is being gossiped about in front of the gossiper. For me this showed the gossiper that I am not a pawn to be used in power struggles.  

Environments like that can be very difficult, I highly suggest you look up videos on youtube for the book "48 laws of power"

 

[Jani]

3 hours ago, Nahm said:

@Jani There is a state of mind you can obtain in which none of the negative perspectives you described exist. I would not expect you to believe me, and I hope you don't. In your current state, your mood & perspective seem to be dependent or at the least, influenced, by what other people think of you / getting validation, recognition, respect. These are the facets of the hamster wheel.  That's all ego feed. It's not helping you in the long run to feel good about that stuff in the short term. Get yourself to a place where you see that for what it is. Contemplating what others think of you is a waste of time. Praise & blame are all the same. When how you feel is only determined by you, you'll be running a company, not working for one. Please don't believe me. Believe in the practices. 

Then let there be such a state of mind, maybe we'll tap into it some time. Getting praise feels nice, what's wrong with that? As long as it doesn't become an addictive cycle of becoming dependent on the praise one after another. Being respected feels nice too, what's wrong with that? Ego feed, yes. I know it's ego feed and I'm okay with that. Being aware of what's happening is good so +1 for that. And as for "It's not helping you in the long run to feel good about that stuff in the short term." When I'm at work, I'm not focusing on what's best for ME, on the long run. I'm focusing on what's best for the employees and the company. Think about others and how their egos function and feel, learn to treat them 'right' and 'good' results will follow, (getting work done and keeping relationships healthy). And also, 'contemplating' and 'trying to figure out' what other people think of you is just stupid in my opinion. If it leads to that, we don't have enough social skills (knowledge of body language and general communication) to figure out what's happening, and all the conclusions happening in our heads might be flat out wrong and exaggerated. Praise and blame all the same? A bit bold. We work among people, we have to know how to work with them. Praise and blame, if it's all the same to you in some state of mind, then cool, sounds interesting, but to your colleagues IT'S NOT THE SAME. To them they have drastic differences and we shouldn't overlook that. We might see a bit better the reality behind praise and blame, but they might not. Use it as a tool, don't let it use you. I welcome the effect of a praise, and try to understand the reasoning behind the blame. I will take your word with a grain of salt and the same doubt goes for my own. Even when my conclusions seem logical, it's good to still have some openness to many other possibilities. I do daily meditation and am really contemplative type. I'm only 19 years into this life so I still have a lot to learn. Thanks for the message, it made me think a lot.

[Nahm]

@Jani fair enough ?. thank you.  i learned here as well.  you sound well ahead of the 19 yo median. keep on rockin ?