Workplace Wellbeing

Laughter…is the best medicine

Merv — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:44:48 +0000

We’ve all heard this saying but do we really know why it’s true. Here are some reasons that explain this. Firstly laughter boosts the immune system. This is important in fighting colds and flu. Secondly when we laugh our blood circulation increases while the arteries expand that flushes away clots. These clots cause heart attacks and strokes. It also oxygenates the body cells that can limit cancer. And finally it provides mental positivity that stops depression
So what has this to do with business? Well when we’re laughing we’re happy. And happy workers are more productive workers. They’re also more likely to enjoy working there and stay longer, as well as want to tell others what a GRRREAT place this is to work at

Here are 5 tips to get more laughter into your workplace

1. Invite us to conduct a laughter session at your workplace. Too often people don’t laugh due to inhibitions. During a laughter session all of these hang ups dissolve
2. Look for things to laugh at. When you do this you develop a sense of humor. This not only helps you to laugh but others to laugh also
3. Conduct activities that are fun. Brainstorming activities are the best. Try writing your ideas onto balloons and then hit them in the air to “see if they will fly”
4. Play with your clients. People like dealing with people who are laughing. They see them as having fun and so have fun with them
5. Lighten up. We take things way too seriously. My fridge magnet states quite clearly that “Life is way too important to be taken seriously”

Creativity and Innovation

Merv — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:16:32 +0000

Many organizations believe that creativity and innovation are the same thing, or worse still inclusive. Nothing could be further from the truth. To be clear creativity is about establishing original ideas while innovation is the implementation of a new idea. So the big question is “do you want to be creative, or innovative, or both?”

There are three ways of doing either of these. The first is to come up with something that is absolutely brand new. Create an original thought or an idea that nobody has ever thought of before. Good luck on that one. The second way is to get an original thought from somebody else, and then modify it to suit your situation. And the third is to get an idea from somebody else and merely implement it into your organization as it is

Here are 5 tips to help you be more creative and innovative

1. Ask your people for ideas that are outside of the box or normal processes of the organization…this will require some brainstorming activities often facilitated by an external person

2. Ask your people to modify or improve on an existing process or system…the best way to do this is to get a list of them and then ask which will have the biggest impact with the least effort

3. Ask your people to give you ideas they have seen outside of your organization that they were impressed with…set this as an external exercise for all of them to bring an idea back to you

4. Get something that’s NOT working within your organization and work on that…locate what is giving you, or better still your clients, the biggest pain and then creatively fix it

5. Get something that IS working within your organization and enhance that…once again ask your clients to tell you what it is they love about you and then make that better

Close the Gap…on your health

Merv — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 06:28:46 +0000

Close the Gap refers to our aboriginal friends who suffer from a health perspective to deal with day to day life in the 21st Century in the same way that non aboriginals do. The gap that I’d like to refer to is the one between being “healthy” and being “not sick”. Let me explain more fully
Just because we are not sick does not mean that we are healthy. In fact more often than not we are merely in a holding pattern waiting to become sick again
The World Health Organization defines health as “A state of dynamic harmony between the body mind and spirit of a person, and the social and cultural influences that make up his or her environment” So what are you doing to move from a state of “not being sick” to one of being “healthy”

Here are 5 tips to help you close the gap

1. Physical. Exercise more often and eat less. Obescity and being overweight is not the problem. They are the symptoms of a sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits
2. Mental. Dementia and memory loss can often be contributed to lack of mental stimulation. Do crosswords, solve problems, or create new ways to do existing things. Challenge the mind
3. Emotional. The two emotions of crying and laughing are so closely linked that they can sometimes occur (what seems to be) simultaneously. Don’t be afraid to show them both
4. Spiritual. Allocate some “me” time. Get in touch with enjoying your own company while contemplating your role in the universe and what you have to do to make it a better place
5. Sleep. Eight hours is the optimum length of time you require. Make sure you go to bed tired, and if you wake up don’t open your eyes until you meditate yourself back to sleep