But, if you are still looking for ways to act out positivity, Geue (2018) outlines a few tips: Those individual qualities should be within you. Of course, those actions should be genuine and authentic. Honoring wins and milestones improves morale by encouraging the person and showing team members that important events are noticed and praised.

Celebrate wins - Look for ways to celebrate whether it’s an employee birthday or recognizing a milestone or achieving a goal.

Show your gratitude and appreciation - Send a thank you note or say it during a meeting.

Encourage an environment where it’s okay to make mistakes and move forward. Instead, take responsibility and risk being vulnerable, to encourage others to be honest and responsible.

Model positive and respectful behavior in your interactions - Be accountable, don’t play the blame game.

Burke (2017) outlines some ways you can start to build a positive work environment right now: It’s a bigger challenge to practice the behaviors each day. It is one thing to say you promote a positive work environment. How do you exhibit trust and cooperation in the workplace? It’s not as easy as it sounds.

You can find more information about these presentation or request a presentation. The WorkLife Office and Jaimie Hutchison, Deputy Director, can provide many great workshops to help you build better teams and colleagues in many ways, at many different levels.

All Team Members: Foster collaboration and communication.

Project Leaders: Create clear goals and rewards for team members.

Director Level: Create an inclusive work environment.

Institutional Level: Establish clear values for the organization.

Agarwal (2018) describes some cooperative elements of a positive work environment: If you do not share the same purpose and values, then you might be talking about two different things, pursuing two different goals, and that leads to problems when communicating with team members. It is important that you and your team members have a shared purpose. There is a big difference between the quantity and quality of communication in the workplace. Working together toward a goal, like collaborating on a project, requires a lot of communication. What is cooperation? The standard dictionary definition refers to cooperation as the act of people working together toward the same goal(s). penalizing women for engaging in flex schedules – can add a gendered aspect that creates a barrier to trust. Williams talks about how inequitable treatment – e.g. Michele Williams, Lydia Weiss talks about how psychological safety allows people to take risks and people can speak up which is part of a strategy for building trust.

Safety and equity are two important components of a positive work environment. A positive work environment is a place where everyone is heard.

When you are not scared, you feel like you can speak up. What is trust? “Trust definitionally, is the willingness to rely on someone in a situation where you are vulnerable so it’s, in a sense, the absence of fear” (Weiss, 2018). Below are some concepts to consider and implement into your workplace. However, there are practical ways you can start building a positive work environment immediately. You want to strive for shared purpose, values, and trust. There are some abstract concepts when thinking about a positive work environment. “Positive” work environments can be defined as those workplaces where there is trust, cooperation, safety, risk-taking support, accountability, and equity. Your work environment can have a positive or negative effect on your daily life.

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