Are you happy at your workplace? Do you enjoy what you do there? Work is a very important field of our lives, it has a significant effect on our general mood. Read this short article and find a way to improve your work life. (Behind the article you can find the tasks to help you get the point.)
Make
connections to be happy at work
Positive
emotions have been linked with numerous positive outcomes including improved
health and wellbeing, long life, and a greater quality of life. On the flip
side anger, anxiety, depression, and worry have been shown to be related to
poor health outcomes.
However, developing
and maintaining a state of positivity and happiness is not as easy as it seems.
Moreover, people do not always understand what truly lies at the roots of their
own happiness.
Given that
we spend on average half of our waking hours at work, many organizations and business
leaders are increasingly starting to realize that using psychological
techniques and know-how in the workplace is crucial.
Make Connections
Science
tells us that the greatest way to influence our happiness is to make new
connections with the people around us as well as strengthen old ones. Simply,
the more social we are, the happier we become.
Evolution
has ensured our survival is tied to our skills to connect with others. Our
brains are literally wired to connect with those around us and to understand
their feelings and intentions. These connections have the power to affect how
we feel.
In a recent
survey, almost 40 percent of the respondents named their colleagues as the top
reason they enjoy their work. Furthermore, over two thirds of respondents
reported that not only did those positive relationships increase their
productivity, but it helped reduce stressful and difficult challenges at work.
Make an
effort to eat lunch in the canteen. Organise a get together with your
colleagues after work and get to know the people you are spending so much time
with.
As a
manager or team leader you need to be aware of how positivity and
negativity can spread among your people. Be aware of the importance of managing morale because one
unhappy person can make for an unhappy office.
Help your
staff come together and connect by starting office-wide competitions or team
building events that encourage people to work together and build meaningful
relationships. Place your staff who are high in energy, satisfaction and
performance strategically in your teams and watch their natural manners
transform the atmosphere of the office.
Tasks to help you understand the article:
1.
Summarize the article in one sentence.
2.
Answer these
questions:
- Why do we have to make connections with people
around us?
- How can you improve your connections at work?
- What can you do if you are a leader?
- Why is it important to manage morale at the
company?
3.
You can find 4
orange words in the text. Find their synonymies in the list.
~ is connected to, is linked to
~ motivate
~ critical, very important
~ efficiency
4.
There are two pairs
of synonymies among the underlined words. Can you find them?
