7 Ideas To Make Work Bearable 😍

 

Do you struggle waking up for work every day?

 

It is draining to work up to nine hours a day in an environment that makes you roll your eyes. For employees, a positive workplace may make work less stressful. Having great coworkers could make your days at work bearable.

 

Creating a positive work environment could lead to happier employees. What does this mean for employers? A low employee turnover rate and an increase in productivity! It looks like a win-win.

 

7 Ideas to make work more enjoyable for employers and employees 😃

 

Happiness is the key to productivity! Here are some ideas to make your work more enjoyable (and less of a chore).

 

1. Rooftop Fridays

 

If you are a marketer, you have definitely heard of Hubspot. Back when they just started, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) used to take his team on his rooftop to chat. It was a time for them to unwind every Friday night. From what we know so far, they still hold this tradition until today.

 

Simply put, you can hold your own “rooftop weekend” with your coworkers or for your employees. You can use rooftop weekend as a concept to talk about other things, non-work related things or use it as a way to get everyone to unwind.

 

If you wonder where to begin, it is as simple as gathering chairs in the middle of your workspace and just chatting with each other.

 

You can make it more fun by ordering some food or involving some wine. When there is wine, there is a way.

 

2. Walk-and-Talk

Credit: unDraw

 

If rooftop weekend is a post-work hangout, then a Walk-and-Talk could make work fun during your working hours. It is a concept where you have a meeting while walking. It’s the walk-and-talk approach. Rather than being crammed together in a tiny meeting room, make your team have a discussion while walking for a cup of coffee. You could also take a stroll at the scenic areas around your office space, let your lungs take in fresh oxygen and discuss your upcoming project openly (quite literally).

 

This idea would work perfectly for a small team meeting. You obviously would not want to take up all the sidewalk space.

 

No doubt, this concept is also a healthier choice. It is a chance for your lower back to take a break from sitting all day. Let it breathe.

 

3. Food is the way to a man’s heart

 

Gathering your employees for a team-building activity is not easy, especially one that requires them to give time beyond their work hours. That applies whether you are the employer or the employee. It is understandable. Most people have a life outside the workplace. 

 

Why not hold a team-building activity during work hours? Sure, you will need to figure out the workload for the day, but this way, you will not be taking away their valuable after-work time, and everyone gets to be involved.

 

You would be stealing a few of their work hours, to give them something they love—food. If food is the way to a man’s heart, then food is undoubtedly the way to your colleagues. Munching on tasty delicacies in the middle of Wednesday afternoon is a fun thing to do.

 

Initiate a potluck with your coworkers. Ask everyone to bring food and drinks for each other. 

 

Or you could just order food for the whole office. Do you know what tastes better than food? Free food, provided by your boss.

 

4. Work Santa

 

For employers or any Chief Happiness Officer at a company, rewarding your employee for their job is always a good idea. There are so many ways to reward them. It could be a movie ticket, shopping vouchers, or an employee of the month award.

 

You can, and should, go the extra mile to reward your employees. Rewards promote a positive work environment, sometimes even driving people to work harder and smarter. Nowadays, multiple startups are kick-starting impressive employee recognition concepts. There is one that lets your employees tip each other for a task well done.

 

For instance, your web developers finish a task earlier than expected. You and other employees can tip those developers with some virtual points. The web developers can exchange those virtual points for stuff with real value, like a digital gift card or even a Paypal cashout. Yes, real money.

 

5. “Work from Home” day

Credit: unDraw

 

2020 was not a year to remember for most people. The year also drastically changed how people live and work, especially in Southeast Asia. From working at an office every day, people were told to work from their homes. As months went by and things got a little better, companies were allowed to resume office operations. Yet, some companies did not lift their work from home policy. 

 

Why continue the work from home routine? For some of those companies, working from home did not affect operations and productivity among employees. Some even performed better than before, when they had to be at the office every day. Other companies also reported that their staff reported fewer sick days during this period.

 

People generally hated work from home, when it first started, but now it is something they like more and more. They do not have to wake up early or commute in traffic to get to work on time. Also, travelling time is not wasted, and they have everything they need in the comfort of their rooms. Of course, some jobs still require employees to head back to the office for their daily duties. 

 

Therefore, what you can do is issue a weekly or bi-weekly mandatory “Work from Home” day for your team. It could be something they look forward to every week. It could be a day that gets them extra rest, a day where they take their kids to school or cook a proper meal for themselves while also doing their job.

 

6. Change your surroundings

 

Why do you want a vacation? It is simple. You want to look outside your window and see something new, not the same old building with fading paint. Now more than ever, especially after being stuck at home for months.

 

Sitting in the same surroundings every day makes life dull and definitely makes time go slower. That is why your company should try employing a flexible workspace policy. This policy could allow your team to work remotely, bring their laptops and work anywhere they want after they clock in at the office.

 

Let them work at another space in a coworking area that you rented, allow them to work at a quiet library that they love or at the Starbucks below the building. Maybe these places have the magic that could get their creative juices flowing. To think out of the box, they need to get out of the box.

 

7. Take them out

Credit: unDraw

 

Whether you are an employer or employee, going out with your coworkers and getting to know each other will foster better connections. That is why you should not skip this classic team-building activity.

 

Employers, take your team out. It could be a regular lunch break at a nearby restaurant or a one-for-one ice-cream haul with your favourite coworker. Do not always keep it professional. Take the initiative to build a real connection with your employees. These moments together are what creates a positive work environment that people could look forward to.

 

On the other hand, if you are an employee, initiating a little after-work dinner with some of your close coworkers is an excellent idea. Start small, and invite more coworkers from different departments as you get to know more people at your company. Knowing that you have a support system and people to talk to at work, it would be easier for you to get up in the morning.

 

A quick summary of how you can make work bearable:

 

• Rooftop Fridays
• Walk-and-Talk
• Food is the way to coworkers’ heart
• Work Santa
• “Work from Home” day
• Change your surroundings
• Take them out

 

There are so many ways to make work fun. The secret is to initiate an activity or policy that aims to create a positive work environment.

 

Remember, Alexander Den Haijer once said,” When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”