I often present the workshop Truly Tapping Your Strengths–And Those of Your Team! The basic gist is that if you focus on what’s right with people and get them to use that more, everyone does better work and enjoys it more. A common question from my awesome audiences is “If I think a job needs a particular set read more…
Scientific data clearly shows that happiness is contagious – and so are negative attitudes. In graphics showing the distribution of happier and less happy people, you will find obvious clusters of happiness and unhappiness–not a random distribution. But in what direction do positive and negative attitudes spread – and can we influence it? An audience read more…
We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement is so titled because the authors view employee engagement as a partnership between employees and their employers. I couldn’t agree more. Pay for Performance and Employee Engagement Early on in the book though, there is a part with which I disagree: the authors strongly argue that read more…
We can all easily list external factors that will take the joy out of work. Unrealistic deadlines, a constantly negative team member, or construction noise are all obviously destructive to a good mood. Chances are, we each have our own habits that put us in a bad mood – and these internal factors are often read more…
12: The Elements of Great Managing introduces the Q12, a set of twelve questions that Gallup uses to measure employee engagement. Gallup’s extensive data suggests these 12 questions are key to measuring the things that make a performance difference. These questions (actually statements that people are asked to agree with, or not, on a 5 read more…
In the process of developing my serious game, I have been distilling many of the relatively small but enormously effective changes individuals and companies can implement to boost happiness and productivity into sets of related hacks. Even after immersing myself in this topic for several years now, I continue to be amazed at how applicable read more…
Kevin Kruse keeps employee engagement short and sweet. In Employee Engagement 2.0: How to Motivate Your Team for High Performance (A Real-World Guide for Busy Managers), which many will read in under an hour, he delivers a lot of important points. Definition & Data Kruse defines employee engagement as the emotional commitment an employee has read more…
Do you ever play at work? Should you? If you are a regular reader of this blog or participated in a Happy Brain Science workshop, you know that I ground virtually everything I say in science. You also know that was a game designer for much of my professional career, and maybe you’ve heard me read more…
We all know we need engaged employees who willingly work hard to give their best. Employee engagement is a win/win/win that benefits the employees, the organization they work in, and the customers they serve. But how do you get engagement? One expensive but solid approach to significant organizational change is the “conference model” advocated by read more…
At some point in our careers, most of us have to deliver a presentation. Whether you are introducing a new company policy, showing the progress on your latest project, or convincing someone of your qualifications for a position, you can draw upon brain science to boost your impact. The key is to understand how the read more…