Most of my past work has been helping organizations improve customer service and raise employee engagement and morale in their workplaces.  However, with the pandemic and almost everyone working from home, many of the the ideas I have shared in the past are no longer applicable.  Recently, one of my assistants who is working remotely asked if I would share some ideas of things she and other workers could do FROM HOME to help keep a positive spirit alive in their organizations.  As a result, I put together a list of new ideas that I hope may help you as you each adapt to new working conditions.

My office all ready for Zoom presentations!

AT HOME IDEAS TO REGENERATE SPIRIT:

• Enclose a surprise in your mailings – a stick of gum, a “calming” teabag, a sticker, or a quotation, or if it is a package, a bag of M&Ms or package of Lifesavers, with a note, “I appreciate you!”
• Spice up your memos and emails. Add a fun fact at the end like “Cows give more milk when they listen to music,” or “The Mona Lisa has no eyelids,” or “Beethoven was 5’ 2” tall,” or “It’s illegal to have a pet pig in Iceland.”  People will have fun reading them.
• Use photos in your emails. Include a photo of your family, your team, a favorite place you love, or even your pet at the end.  It is a lovely way to build a personal relationship with your co-workers and clients.
• Jazz up your Zoom meetings if you regularly “meet” as a team. Do fun things at either the beginning or the end of each zoom meeting such as have everyone wear a goofy hat or wear their Pjs, or dress up like they were going to a gala  or share their favorite mask or post a baby picture of themselves and everyone guesses who is whom …..or on a more serious note, share a book they are reading, a podcast that inspired them, or a song that they love.
• Call someone in your organization just to say, “I appreciate and miss you.”
• Surprise a co-worker with a poem or a note of appreciation for the work they have done or how they have helped or inspired you. That way they can read it over and over when they are having a tough day.
• Do something special for the FAMILY of a co-worker who has gone out of his/her way for you – a gift certificate to an ice cream store, a restaurant, or a movie for the whole family.
• Mark Twain said, “I can go two months on one good compliment.” Send a compliment to someone on your team or in your organization every day and encourage them.
• As Ken Blanchard said in “The One Minute Manager,” “Make a habit of catching people doing something right.” Even though you are not with them physically, you can still appreciate what they have done right.  You don’t have to be a manager to thank someone for a joy well-done!
• Jim Munroe from South Carolina sends email poems to appreciate his co-workers at Santee Cooper public power company. Here are some examples:

           You stock the shelves and that’s not all

           Shipping, receiving and telephone calls.

           Forms for this and forms for that.

           You even take care of old stray cats!

           So jump on that forklift and drive away.

           Eat something tasty and have a great day!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          You deal with the payroll all the day long.

         And hear all the complaints if something is wrong.

         In this day and time we need to daily give thanks

          For at least we have something to put in our banks.

          It must be fun handling all that dough.

          Every two weeks you’re Santa and our faces glow.

          Thanks for a great job – we know you won’t fail.

          I love when you tell me, “Your check’s in the mail!”

•  Mary Kay Ash, CEO of Mary Kay  Cosmetics, said, “There are two things people want more than sex or money – recognition and praise.”  No matter WHERE you are working, you can give these gifts to your co-workers!
• Take a 5 minute vacation. This can be done physically by going outside and walking around the block or to another part of your home, or it can be a mental vacation.  Close your eyes and vision a very special place that you have been or would like to go.  Then do something you would like there.  The best part is that it won’t cost you a penny! You will be amazed at how refreshed you can feel in 5 minutes.
• Create an AIG (“Ain’t I Great”) folder for yourself. Fill it with cards, letters, emails, photos, awards – anything that celebrates you and brings you joy.  Then when you are having a tough day, you can take it out and remember all the people who care about you.
• Charles Swindoll, the author of “Strengthening your Grip,” said, “When we encourage others, we spur them on, we stimulate an affirm them. We appreciate what a person does, but we affirm who a person is.”  Be an ENCOURAGER every day!
• Send flowers anonymously to someone in your organization who has accomplished a difficult task or needs a lift. (You might even send them to YOURSELF when you have met a goal! 😉  There are also many online greeting card sites that you can immediately use to celebrate and encourage someone.

Please email me at bglanz@barbaraglanz.com with your ideas.  For more information on my work, go to http://www.barbaraglanz.com.

CREATING GLIMPSES OF JOY!

My belief is that our workplaces should be places of joy. After all, we spend half our lives there, so working in an environment that encourages us to be our best selves, that challenges us to constantly stretch and grow, and that nurtures our souls is a precious gift. The best news of all is that we can each contribute to helping that to happen in our own workplace.

The best way we can do this is to recognize and celebrate the uniqueness of each person we encounter in a day. Everyone has something to contribute, and it can be a delightful experience to help discover what special contributions each person on your team can make. Often these contributions have little to do with the person’s actual job, and yet they can add so much to the project, the team or the overall environment. Do you know the passion of each person on your team? Do you know what they REALLY love, what they do in their free time, what they spend their extra money on? This will tell you lots about their uniqueness. GLIMPSE OF JOY #1: Search for the special gift each person brings to your workplace.

Another way we can create an environment of joy is by being grateful people. Often we get so busy that we forget to say “thank you” to those around us. The more creative we are in appreciating people, the more meaningful that affirmation will be. When we remember something that is very important to them and thank them with a small gift that relates to that passion, we are telling them that we care about what they care about. Also, any time we affirm what someone has done, we not only validate their existence on this earth, but we are also recognizing that they are making a positive difference in the world. GLIMPSE OF JOY #2: Thank people every chance you get.

It is easy in our workplaces to focus on what is going wrong. The world today is filled with whiners and blamers. However, each of us can counter these negative persons by always looking for what is going right. I often suggest to my audiences, for example, that they begin every meeting with three minutes of “good news.” That not only starts the meeting on a positive note, but it also celebrates good things that are happening in people’s lives, homes, communities, and work teams. So many meetings are focused on what is going wrong that this becomes a way to spread goodness and cheer. I also keep a “Blessings Journal,” and each night before I go to bed, I jot down all the little things that happened in the day that blessed me. Even on the worst days, I can always find little glimpses of joy! GLIMPSE OF JOY #3: Focus on what is going right.

My personal motto is “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™.” Do you believe enthusiasm is contagious? Francis Likert, a well-known management expert, writes: If a high level of performance is to be achieved, it appears to be necessary for a supervisor to have high performance goals and a contagious enthusiasm as to the importance of these goals. As you think about your job, are you contagiously enthusiastic about the importance of the work you do? Have you ever thought about how what you do every day makes someone’s life better? That gives a whole new mission and purpose to your work—it is no longer just a job but it is important work which enhances someone’s life. This spirit of meaningful work creates a whole new enthusiasm in your workplace. GLIMPSE OF JOY #4: Be contagiously enthusiastic about the importance of your work.

 Sometimes it is difficult in our workplaces to believe that we have choices to make a difference, especially when layoffs are occurring, stress levels are high, and people are being asked to do more and more for less and less. However, there is a difference between being happy in our jobs and finding joy in our lives at work. “Happiness” has the root word “happen” and depends on circumstances while “joy” is an attitude. We can CHOOSE to find little glimpses of joy even in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances. When our little boy died, I was given a book called “Glimpses of Joy in the Cesspools of Life,” and I have thought often about the appropriateness of that title. GLIMPSE OF JOY #5: Even if you are not happy in your job, you can still find glimpses of joy.

Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management national convention in Chicago to 3000 people on “The Simple Truths of Appreciation”

 I have been deeply impacted by this thought from William Winter: “As much of Heaven is visible as we have eyes to see.” If we choose to look for glimpses of joy in our workplaces and in our lives, we will surely find them. “All the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of one small candle.” And if we choose to help create those glimpses of joy for others, joy will return to us in like measure. According to Ben Sweetland, “We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.” A joyful atmosphere will not only impact morale, retention, and productivity, but it will also provide a place where each person can find value, purpose, and a deep sense of pride in the contribution he or she is making.

Barbara Glanz Biography:

For free articles you can use in your company newsletters and an archive of dozens of immediately applicable “Ideas of the Month,” go to www.barbaraglanz.com/articles.

Barbara Glanz, a member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, works with organizations that want to improve morale, retention, and service and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives. She is the author of twelve best-selling books, including The Simple Truths of Service Inspired by Johnny the Bagger® (Co-authored with Ken Blanchard); The Simple Truths of Appreciation; Handle with CARE—Motivating and Retaining Employees; CARE Packages for the Workplace–Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work; CARE Packages for the Home; and CARE Packages for Your Customers . As an internationally known speaker, trainer, and business consultant who has a Master’s degree in Adult Education, Barbara lives and breathes her personal motto: “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™.” She is the first speaker on record to have presented on all seven continents and in all 50 states. For more information, she can be reached directly at 941-312-9169; email: bglanz@barbaraglanz.com; website: www.barbaraglanz.com.

© Barbara Glanz Communications, Inc. 2018.  All Rights Reserved.

I was blessed that, for the first time in several years, my daughter, son-in-love, and two grandsons, Owen and Simon, from Portland, Oregon, were able to be with me for Easter week.  On the Monday after Easter we decided to have an adventure and go to Busch Gardens, an African-inspired theme park in Tampa, Florida.

Although the boys had a good day, we were appalled with the lack of efficiency and the lackluster attitude of almost all the employees.  The park has all the right attributes – amazing rides, beautiful animals, wonderful grounds and restaurant facilities.  But what they don’t have is the magic that makes an experience truly memorable.

It started the minute we arrived at the park at 10:45 am.  Even though we had pre-purchased our tickets, it took almost an hour in line to even get into the park.  At least two of the security checks were not open, so four lines had to funnel into two, leaving people jostling one another and frustrated and upset.  That day the park was running a wine and food special called “All Day Dine,” so I had also purchased tickets for that.

When we finally did get into the park, we found we had to wait in another line for almost 30 minutes to get our dining bracelets for the day.  This concession was staffed by one VERY slow person (reminded me of the sloths at the Drivers License Bureau in the Disney movie, “Zootopia!”)  who had to check each ticket individually, enter information into the computer for each one, put the bracelets on individually for each person, and at the same time serve and sell drinks to other customers – AND he was grumpy to everyone.  It was 12:30 before we even had a chance to begin exploring the park!

When we later stopped for lunch in another area of the park, we found out that the employee who had given us the bracelets had given the boys children’s bracelets rather than the adult ones I had paid for, so they were only able to have the very limited kid’s meals which did not make them happy.  Even though we had all the receipts, no one could (or was willing) to help us.  They told us our only option was to go all the way back and wait in the line again for our sloth friend to give us new bracelets.  Since we found out that the park closed that night at 7:00, it was not worth wasting more time to go back, so the boys were disappointed at every meal.  If the employees had been empowered or had cared enough to take a risk to make a customer happy (since we had proof that we had paid the full amount), it would have greatly changed our experience.

We had expected the ride lines to be long and they were,  However, even when we finally got up to get on the rides, the employees seemed bored and almost victimized instead of excited and welcoming to all the people who had spent a lot of time and money to be there.  To most of them, it was simply a routine, boring job instead of fun, important work that made people happy.  We even found that many of the long lines were unnecessary.  On the log ride, for example, each car held four people, but at least half the cars were allowed to go with only two people in each, resulting in wait times of 45 – 50 minutes.

At 6:00pm all the customers with the All Day Dine bracelets were trying to find food to eat before they left the park.  What we discovered was that the park had decided to close different restaurants at different times in the late afternoon, leaving only two or three places open at the end of the day for hundreds of people to eat.  Sadly, this policy was never posted anywhere, so no one knew this would happen.  We were lucky to have been close to one of the few open restaurants, so we only had to wait 30 minutes for some food, but there were many, many upset and hungry people leaving that evening.

We could not help but contrast this experience with ones that we have had at Disney where the procedures are of the utmost efficiency, all employees  are committed to the mission of making it “the happiest place on earth,” and everyone goes out of their way to make it a mountaintop experience for the guests.  Disney, Southwest Airlines, and Nordstrom are all clients of mine.  How I would love to help Busch Gardens create a little bit of that magic!

To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com.