How to improve the morale in your office by Thomas A. Rothstein

Feb. 14, 2010 - PRLog -- How to improve the morale in your office
“I’m looking at the man in the mirror”

There is nothing worse than having an office full of bad attitudes, and what is commonly known as office mess. At some point in our careers we have all have felt trapped by a work environment that was so bad that you spent all of your free time on Monster.com.

There are many reasons that could cause the morale in the office to plummet, but I think one of the main reasons is management. I know it’s not a popular position to address whenever we set out to fix whatever is plaguing the work place, but from my experience poor morale is an issue you have to address from the top down.

My uncle had a very good philosophy when it came to management accountability and that is “the children should look like the daddy.” It took me a while before I really got the full extent of the theory behind his principal, until the day I had to replace a manager who was recently fired.

My excitement over my promotion was quickly tarnished when I came face to face with the staff that occupied my new office. This office had a stench of discontent that was so bad it almost made me turn around run back to my car like I was being chased. The manager I was replacing ran this office like her own little Jerry Springer Show, and apparently she played the role of Jerry Springer to perfection. Think of the worse case scenario to work in for an 8 to 10 hour shift and you have just visualized this office.

So after the driest introduction I have ever experienced, I walked into my new office, shut the door, sat down, stared directly through the smoke stained window overlooking the office, and asked myself one simple question, “Who can I fire, and who can I keep?”

Right at the moment I was about to invoke the spirit of Donald Trump and fire the entire staff a little voice said to me “the kids should look like the daddy”. I am now the new dad, so how can I affect the atmosphere in this office?

I now had my challenge, and my strategy.  My first goal was not based on hitting the numbers or performance indicators, it was simply team building. We needed to become a unit, an organism, a well oiled machine in both communication and team work.  

In 1991 the recording artist Seal had a hit song called “Crazy”. The chorus of this song said we’re never going to survive unless we get a little crazy. As a leader the word Crazy translates into another totally different word, Creative!  

If you are having an issue with morale in your office I can assure you the management of that office lacks the creative means to inspire team work and togetherness. As a leader you have to affect the atmosphere in your office in a way that it takes on your own likeness.

Your office should reflect your personality and your drive. If you are a fun, upbeat, professional in your office then that office will evolve into a similar version of you. Guard your mood and the mood of your office. The office is not an open forum for complaints and gripes. As the guardian of the atmosphere of your office, every member of your staff should feel so comfortable coming to you that there is never a need to blast out their individual issues.

One the best things you can do to the move the dark clouds that looms over your cubicles is to publicly compliment your staff all the time. Trust me on this one; you can never compliment a person enough for their job performance. I even initiated a “take my job for a week” promo in which I would switch places with a member of my staff.

This was a great way to connect with my team and for them to gain an appreciation for my role as a leader. Everything from the morning meetings and conference calls with my region was handled by that staff member. Whatever changes they felt would improve our office or the quality of our work I would empower them to make the necessary change. Even if I felt that the change was not a very good one I would still allow them to make the change and then use the results as a leadership training opportunity.

What we discovered from “take my job for a day” is it was a wonderful management training tool, as well as a way to break up the monotony of the day to day grind.

These techniques were able to affect the morale of the office because everyone felt a part of a team, a part of a family. Many of my staff went on to become district managers because of the exposure and training they received as one of the players on our team.

If you are fortunate enough to create a family atmosphere within your office then the production will follow because they care about the presentation of the team just as much as picking up a check on Friday.  

Go crazy with your creativity and keep your staff guessing what you will do next to inspire them to be the best. If you manage your staff like a dictator then there will eventually be a coup in either the production of your staff or the loyalty they have to each other as a team members.

Many of my staff from the office I described at the beginning of this article are still my close buddies till to this day. Not associates, but really good friends. The closeness we still enjoy started in the office and spilled over into our everyday lives, because we enjoyed working with each other.

I challenge you to connect with your staff, and they will enjoy working with you rather than for you. Always remember what my uncle said “the kids should look like the daddy”.

Thank you

Thomas A. Rothstein

Distributed by Image Max Personal Public Relations

# # #

Thomas A. Rothstein Business Consulting Firm provides organization development stratagies for small and large corporations.