Holiday cheer is good for morale.

Holiday cheer is good for morale.

Holiday cheer is good for morale.

Good office morale is important for success. In fact, little in the office is more influential to success than the happiness of our employees. Happy workers are more productive and interface with clients more cheerfully and effectively. And the efforts required to cheer up the office are both affordable and invaluable. Here are some things to consider:

1. Attitude flows from the top.

Check in on how you’ve been feeling about things lately. Your attitude affects those around you more than anyone else’s. Often, doing something cheerful for those around you can get you out of a slump, too.

2. Little thank yous make a difference.

Everyone likes to be appreciated for their efforts at the office. Especially at the holiday season when many people are overstressed at home and spreading themselves a little thin. So make this the time of your year that you let people know how much you appreciate them. It doesn’t matter what your role in the office is — employer, coworker, employee. Say thank you to those around you. No grand gesture required. A simple, heartfelt thank you can be very memorable and meaningful.

3. Do something fun.

Have a silly dress-up or dress-down day at the office. People will have fun with it and it will put a spark in everyone’s step. Don’t admonish those who don’t participate, but encourage those that do. Let them know it’s enjoyable having them around.

4. Decorate.

Encourage employees to decorate their desks and the office for the holidays. Remind them gently to be considerate of the religious beliefs of those around them. But let them express themselves and celebrate their own traditions. Everyone benefits from being open to each other’s differences as well as similarities.

5. Eat together.

Bring pizza in to the office one day. Send out an email to everyone the day before so the excitement about it can build a little. Then make sure you have more than enough to go around. Put on some music or have everyone gather in one place. Hearing a little laughter in the office will do everyone good.

6. Have a contest.

You can do this any time of year. Announce about a week in advance that Tuesday will be Silly Shoe Day, Hat Day or Ugly Holiday Sweater Day. Then have everyone vote on whose silliness takes the cake. Even those who grumble at the silliness of the idea itself (and there will likely be some of those) will chuckle when others are enjoying it.

7. Have a drawing for a day off.

This is a particularly good thing to do around the holidays or as springtime arrives and spring fever kicks in. Do it only once a year and on the day the person takes off, surprise everyone else and let the whole office go home an hour early.

8. Have a $5 or less gift exchange.

Encourage everyone to participate. Do the exchange at lunchtime or at the end of the day. Collect all the presents into one place. Then everyone who brought a gift can choose one from the pile and open it, one at a time. With a $5 limit, you will get many creative gifts that will open people’s minds and hearts.

No matter what you do, just the effort of encouraging everyone in the office to interact in a different way than the way they do while conducting business with one another will benefit them. You may find that having activities like these can be downright habit forming.

— by Chris Quinn, principal and brand strategist

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