Four Habits of Happy Colleagues

There are a few ways to boost that happiness at work. The folks at Inc. outlined a few tips and interestingly enough, changes don't have to be drastic in order to create significant results. 1. Talk to someone before checking your email. Seriously. Before you log on in the morning, say hi to a colleague and have a friendly conversation by the water cooler. The piece points out, "You'll be surprised how your mood changes when you don't just rush into the digital realm." 2. Bring a colleague a cup of coffee. If anyone has ever brought you leftover food in the conference room, that gesture probably made you feel pretty good. Well, it works in reverse, too. Why not bring a cup of coffee to your cubicle mate? This will automatically boost his or her mood but it'll likely put a spring in your step, too. Pay it forward. 3. Smile first, then speak. If you've ever had to work on sales calls, then you know the phrase well: "Smile and dial." Well, pretend you're not actually going to make any calls for a minute. Replace the visual of a phone with an actual person in front of you. Before you speak up at a meeting or have a conversation, smile first. Plus, the piece suggests waiting a beat or even two before speaking in order to showcase your mood with an authentic smile. 4. Add incentives to your task list. If you're like us, you have a long list of tasks that must be accomplished. We're like machines -- tackle one item, cross it off and then move onto the next one. If you're truly happy (and dare we add, downright savvy), you'll add a reward to some of those items. Finished writing a 2,000-word essay for your magazine editor? Go ahead and get that cup of hot cocoa. Instead of jotting down the reward as a straightforward reward, include it as a task such as "run to Starbucks to grab a cup of hot cocoa."

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Four Habits of Happy Colleagues

Vicki Salemi

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Vicki Salemi