The practise of mindfulness has increased in popularity over the last few years. We are living in an increasingly demanding world where a whole host of different things are vying for our attention.
Introducing mindfulness to the workplace can make a huge difference not only to employee health and wellness but also to productivity, especially in these uncertain times. But how do you get everyone on board?
Here we take a look at 10 ways to encourage it in the workplace:
- Be Mindful Yourself
You can’t expect your employees to get on the mindfulness trail if you don’t practice it yourself. Good leaders lead by example and encouraging mindfulness is no different.
Begin to introduce it into different aspects of your working day and explore how it affects performance, then pass this insight onto others in your organisation.
- Encourage Employees to See Other POVs
We can often get wrapped up in our personal challenges and conflicts. Mindfulness teaches us to step back and view the world more dispassionately. Working with your staff to see the world from another person’s point of view can make a huge difference. It teaches us that there is more than one way to see the world.
- Challenge and Dream
Encouraging mindfulness in the workplace means you may have to loosen your hold on the reins a little more and give your employees a chance to explore the possibilities.
If you are challenging them to do new things, you also need to give them room to dream and come up with ideas. For example, you may want to ask your team to come up with ideas for how to improve performance in the office. Allow them to think outside the box and come up with different ideas and give them time to do it.
- Breaks Are Good
We live in a stressful and competitive world. We are well past the days when big corporations would dictate when staff could take a break or not. This is not the slave trade, after all.
Giving your employees the opportunity to take a break and reconnect with the world, allows them to refresh their minds and that improves productivity and encourages more mindfulness.
- Provide Mindfulness Training
Some people take to mindfulness like its second nature, others find it a lot harder. Introducing regular mindfulness training into your operation ensures people have the right tools to engage and also gives them opportunities to explore and ask questions to improve their practice.
- Focus on Breath
Breath meditation is a powerful tool that can relieve stress and make us more energised. It’s also something that goes out the window when we’re stressed and under pressure.
Focusing on breathing, whether we’re at our desk, in a meeting or dealing with a client, can improve wellbeing and make us less prone to the vagaries of a stressful lifestyle.
- Practising Mindfulness During the Day
It is pretty easy to drop out of mindfulness so it’s important to give people the chance to practice mindfulness during the day. It is all about noticing the small things around you and bringing your mind back to the present rather than letting your emotions and worries take over. Regular discussions about the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace can certainly help.
- Slowing Down
We don’t always have to operate at breakneck speed. Slowing down and being more in the moment with your thoughts and breath can make a big difference. It can be a difficult thing to encourage when you are under pressure to get results and it often seems counter intuitive, but it works.
- Talk About Mindfulness
As a leader, getting people to talk about mindfulness is important in helping to promote it across any organisation. Talk about what techniques work for different people or start a meeting with a brief meditation. The more you make mindfulness a habit, the more people will move towards it.
- Don’t Micromanage
Finally, micromanagement can make people feel constricted and stressed out. Stress is a big block to being mindful. Giving your employees the room to make their own decisions and incorporate mindfulness into their daily routine will also help.
In these changed times ensuring your team is supported is more important than ever. The team at Human4 can deliver a range of programs both virtually and, in time, in person to improve the human connection in your workforce.