Help Others Be Winners in the Workplace
Setting up others to win at work seems an unusual concept in a competitive context but when you do this, everybody wins, including you and the business. Doing this helps to create a harmonious work environment and creates trust, goodwill, and reliance on one another in healthy and positive way. It also helps to ensure that employees do their best by the organization for which they're working because they feel a personal stake in good outcomes.
Steps
- Reach out. When you notice someone having difficulties with a work challenge, offer your help. It might be as little as listening to them complain over a cup of tea or it might be as hands on as sitting down and evaluating the direction that the work should take, as well as providing solutions to their bottleneck.
- Praise people. Really notice what others are doing well and praise them for it. In noticing the little things, the latent talents, the caring touches to work, the willingness to go beyond the usual expectations, you recognize people's efforts and speak to them genuinely. Appreciation can never be underrated.
- Give people the information needed to work well. In some organizations, a mentality of information hoarding grows.This is really unhealthy because it causes people to "act territorial" and keep information from others, when sharing it would spark a lot more solutions, better interaction, and probably faster results! Be someone who is known for ensuring that information is openly and rapidly distributed. Information access makes winners of everyone.
- Give credit where credit is due. Don't be an attention-hog. Colleagues, team mates and staff in general cannot abide thunder theft of their ideas, work efforts, and input by someone else in the workplace. If they do the bulk of the work, if they recognize the solutions, shine a light on these facts rather than stealing their thunder and crowning yourself. In giving credit, be specific as to what was done and why it was good. You'll win supporters for life as well as making these people winners. It also rubs off on others who see that you are generous with your praise and that you notice and care about others.
- Find small ways to acknowledge people's efforts. Leave them small tokens of appreciation, such as a little chocolate with a handwritten note with a thanks scrawled on it. It's up to you if you sign your name - sometimes it is better to leave it anonymous and just spread the love around. Could be anyone? Well, then you're all winners!
Tips
- Feeling threatened by the achievements of fellow colleagues is a commonplace problem in workplaces. It's unfortunate but not surprising; when we are raised in a competitive culture that values individual achievements, it can be hard to feel left behind and not noticed. Winning can become everything for some individuals and in feeling this way, the achievements, ideas, and comments from other colleagues can set off insecurities and worries about one's own personal achievements or lack of them. If this is a problem, consider bringing a workplace facilitator or psychologist in to run a workshop on discussing such feelings and handling them as part of daily work life. Giving people the coping strategies is a key method of breaking down competitive barriers but it will often only work if a neutral and independent third party is able to show employees just how these competitive traps happen in a workplace context.
