The Power of a Contagious Smile in the Workplace
“Use your smile to change the world but don’t let the world change your smile.” – Unknown
How powerful is this quote? It’s almost as powerful as an actual smile. A smile boosts confidence, improves your mood and the mood of others, and builds better relationships. When it comes to the workplace, whether it’s a coworker, a client or your boss, a smile can take you far and change the mood of everyone around you. It’s a great tool to help build relationships, enhance trust, boost confidence and improve productivity. When people feel connected, they work better together and help each other achieve a common goal in an environment that is (mostly) stress-free and fun.
The Power of Your Infectious Smile
A smile is infectious. I dare you to try it. Walk by someone today and smile. I bet you they will smile back. I use my smile as a tool when I communicate with others. If you smile before you get on a call, the caller on the other end will feel your positive energy and react favorably to your conversation. It also lightens the mood when things get overwhelming, which is inevitably bound to happen at work. What’s better than a smile? Not much. Well, except for a laugh.
Laughter in the Workplace
Think of a moment when things were crazy. Maybe your work was piled up, you suffered from lack of sleep or burnout, and then someone in your office cracked a joke that had you in tears from laughter. It felt like you could breathe again. Laughter helps you push through and allows you to celebrate yourself and your coworkers for a moment. That moment is just what you need to release stress and tension so you can move forward with a good attitude and outlook.
Ways to Increase Laughter
Filling your office with smiles and laughter can really boost morale and bring your team closer together, so it’s important to have a few tricks up your sleeve for when things get too hectic or stressful. We laugh a lot at Elevate My Brand. We like to take 10 to 15 minutes out of our busy day to play a game (Heads Up! Is our favorite) or crack silly jokes in order to lighten the mood. We also tell each other amusing stories, sing out loud with our Sonos System and take breaks to walk and connect with one another regularly. We do our best to brighten each other’s days as a way of staying positive and productive.
I recommend that you and your team try to do the same this week and see how you feel. You may discover that your mundane work environment can actually be very entertaining and your work product will turn out much better because you’re able to power through each project with positivity and a smile.
Biana Lerman, Account Executive
Elevate My Brand