How to Make Our Job Enjoyable and Be Happy at Work Place

Do You Want Your Workplace a Pleasant One? Want to be Happy at Work?  Let Us See How to Make Our Job Enjoyable?

My niece came to me with tears saying that that was the last day she would attend her office. Her team leader was very harsh and she could not tolerate it anymore. That was what her concern was.

Too much stress, it’s really a difficult task to work in my office, I could not tolerate my boss, all the time my senior is targeting me, I feel like a fish out of water when I am at my workplace, … We are hearing these kinds of complaints often, right? We have a lot of preconditioning that we are asked to do the work, someone is extracting work from me, it is difficult to work in this office/ under this boss, etc.

If I like the work that I am doing I will love to do that and finally, once it is completed I get a feeling of satisfaction, on the other hand, if I do the work out of compulsion I will somehow complete it and will get the sense of relief only, not satisfaction/ happiness.

If you calculate the time you are at your workplace, it is more than 80% of the time you are awake! Shocking? 

I start to college at 07.10 am and reach back home around 07.00 pm. So, working time plus the travel time is approximately 12 hours. There is not much time effectively spent at home in the morning before leaving for college. Maybe 3 to 4 hours in the late evening I spend time with my family. If we consider the quality time, it may be 2 to 3 hours! So, easily it comes to 80% of my entire time excluding my sleep time and daily routine, that I spend at my workplace. If that is the case, how enjoyable should my workplace be? Who will make it for me? I only have to, right?

Let us see a few things that can help in keeping our workplace enjoyable.

1. The workplace is somehow stressful and challenging for everyone! Each one of us has our own personality, our own commitments, both professional and personal, and family situations. The attitude of people differs. So, how can we make the workplace a happy place for us? One way to keep our workplace friendly and productive is by having control over what we speak. Give a thought before you speak. Let us not hurt others by giving a sharp reply. Try to understand that if the other is using abusive words or behaves in an indifferent way that means he/she is disturbed inside. 

When a mother will beat her child? when she is calm and composed or when she is disturbed? Just look at yourself, at times, your child might have done the same thing but you reacted in different ways, say for example, if he is doing some mischief you might have hugged him and kissed. And some other time for the same mischief, you might have scolded him, even given him a good beating. Whether such a thing happened? Now, you look back your feeling then, you might have been in a happy mood when you hugged him for his mischief and you might have been disturbed when you beaten him up. Is that right?

Once a student came late to class after a few days of holidays from his native. When the teacher questioned him he replied “Madam, the train got punctured”. She got angry, shouted at him, and brought him to my cabin. Actually, I enjoyed his answer! The difference is the state of our mind at that time! Can you see this?

So, if any of your colleagues irritates you by his words or behaviour, do not react. Instead, understand that he is disturbed and give some comfort zone.

2. Ethics and integrity are fundamental values that should be at the core of every workplace. They are essential for building trust, enhancing reputation, and mitigating risks. By promoting ethics and integrity, we can create a positive workplace culture that will make the people work happily!  Ethics refers to the set of moral principles that guide an individual’s behavior, including honesty, professionalism, dedication, dependability, inherent values, accountability…, and of course obeying the organisational rules.

Integrity, on the other hand, refers to the adherence to a strong moral code and the consistent demonstration of honesty, transparency, and fairness.

3. I deserve respect, in the same way my co-workers also deserve respect, isn’t it? So, at the workplace respect the feelings of the other and listen to what they are trying to communicate rather than interrupting them and giving your opinion. When you have some free time for conversing with your colleague, talk about something light and positive and avoid gossip! Do not be judgemental and do not speak negatively about your colleagues.
4. Actually, sharing your personal life is your choice. At the same time do not expect the other also should share everything about their personal life! Some might wish to keep their personal life private. Do not just go on asking questions about their personal life! One of my colleagues was single and just does not want to share the reason behind that to anyone. She was feeling bad that one of her teammates was very curious to know about that and used to ask her regarding that. So, let us be mindful in not interfering in others’ personal matters.
5. How you communicate with your colleagues also matters. It’s not what you say, sometimes how you communicate is also very important. Be aware of how you communicate and your body language.
6. Keep you informed of the organization’s expectations. Be aware of the values, policies, and procedures of the organization. You can be a part of the organization and contribute to maintaining the values of the organization.
7. I should hold responsibility for my feelings, what I speak, and what I do. The accountability will build better relationships with colleagues. One of my friends said that she wanted to quit her job as she could not meet the expectations of her office. But, she had gone for a home loan and some other commitments and she has to work. Daily, she has opposition starting from while she is getting ready to office. There are people who work in an organisation just because they have commitments, just for want of money though they do not want to work in that place. When people are working just for money, without any liking to the work they are doing, what kind of involvement or accountability can we expect from them? And it is a loop, if they work without any involvement they can’t enjoy the work and that is leading to an increase in the stress level only, can you see that? 
8. You can have a healthy discussion, arguments. But, do not bring in personal things during the arguments!
9. We need to understand the kind of teamwork required in our workplace. One member of the team is not able to perform his/her assigned work, it affects the entire team work and it gives stress to all the other members. If we have the trust and relatedness with each other and if all the team members value each other, then we will have a complementarity feeling in the team and members will complete the task without complaining or getting the stress. 
10. Yet another important thing is to consider others before your own self, be honest, and trustworthy, and give the comfort zone for others. Show kindness to everyone!

Some time back I read an article

“Either don’t do it. Or do it with devotion. Nothing in between”.

This is very apt for our current discussion. 

If we are incorporating these little changes mindfully and doing our work with complete devotion, we can make our workplace an enjoyable one, what do you say?