5 Steps to Make Your Business More Zen for Happier, High-Performing Teams
As an entrepreneur or leader, we definitely understand the importance of having a motivated and productive team. But with the demands of running a business, it is easy for us to miss the significance of a healthy work-life balance and its impact on our employees. Nonetheless, there are several ways we can incorporate more Zen into our workplace, resulting in a happier environment and a more high-performing team. Here are 5 ways to bring more Zen into your team and your business:
Create a morning challenge for your team
Encourage your team to wake up 35 minutes earlier and choose any activity that promotes health and self-care, such as exercise, yoga, meditation, or an outdoor walk. After a month, hold a meeting where each team member presents a five-minute speech on how this new routine has positively impacted their life. This will make them experience the discipline of making “self-care” a priority every morning before their workday begins and share with their colleagues the benefits they are discovering with the practice of it. Follow up on these meetings monthly so they don’t lose consistency on this challenge.
Bring in an expert
Invite a mindfulness expert or personal trainer who can explain the benefits of meditation, workouts, and healthy practices. Encourage your team to familiarize themselves with these habits by creating a live meditation practice or asking the personal trainer to give a weekly workout routine, that will emphasize how this can be performed at home, without too much complication. Accompany with a Q&A, which will motivate your team to put it into practice as soon as they can. Supported by the subject matter, experts help us to understand and influence any new discipline we would like to embrace or begin from zero.
Encourage the use of a Happy Healthy Music playlist
Have your team create a personal playlist of uplifting, energizing music that they listen to while getting ready for work. This music can change their mood, putting them in a positive state of mind, and better prepared for the day ahead. This resembles the Mozart effect, which suggests that listening to Mozart’s music may temporarily improve one’s IQ test scores. However, recent studies have shown that any type of music, as long as it is positive and liked by the listener, can produce similar results to the Mozart effect. As an extra tip, make them share these playlists to create involvement and interactions inside your team.
Empower your team to set a Work Manifesto
Encourage your team to create a personal statement of their beliefs, values, and goals for the organization. This work manifesto can serve as a powerful tool for focus and motivation and will help your team stay on track with their personal and professional goals. This work manifesto has to be read after breakfast so it can be stacked as a new habit performed or orient them to read it before their 9-to-5 begins.
Offer rewards for good habits
Encourage your team to adopt good habits by offering rewards, such as books like “The 5 AM Club,” “The Miracle Morning,” or “Morning Zen.” These books can help your team identify the benefits of a positive morning routine and inspire them to make it a regular part of their day. As I always like to say: “there is always an advantage for those who choose to learn”.
Implementing these five strategies in your business can bring more Zen into the workplace and lead to a happier and higher-performing team. Focusing on work-life balance and encouraging healthy habits can help your employees feel satisfied and better prepared to manage the challenges of running a business. It could be difficult to get everyone on board and to fully embrace these changes, but if a couple of them manage to implement them, for sure, they will experience and improve their work and lifestyle, making them appreciate these positive impacts that you share with them for the rest of their careers.
Adrian Gonzalez is an entrepreneur, Life Coach, and author of Morning Zen: Empower Your Life by Transforming Your Mornings, available in paperback and priced at £13.90.
Featured Photo by Sean Stratton on Unsplash
