I know this seems too simple to actually work, but trust me, it does!

Your mission on this Monday is to ask a co-worker, at a suitable time of your choosing, what his or her best vacation ever was. Then listen interestedly to the answer and ask some follow-up questions. Good question might be:

• So what did you like about it?
• What was the best thing about it?
• How did your family like it (assuming they traveled with their family?

This is a great way to get people talking because:

• Everybody has vacations.
• Everybody likes vacations.
• Everybody is passionate about their vacations and put a lot of effort and thought into them.

If you feel you need an excuse to ask, you can always do it in the guise of asking for tips for your next vacation.

Why is this a good thing? Happiness at work is very much about good workplace relationships. It’s about making genuine connections between human beings, rather than between co-workers or bosses or employees.

You can’t really make these connections if you only ever talk about work, and you make the best connections when you get people talking about their good experiences. Sitting around the lunch table bitching about the weather, the taxes or your commute does NOT create good workplace relations or, indeed, much happiness at work.

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

What would happen, if just for one day the regular, anonymous coffee in your workplace had been replaced by some kind of delicious gourmet brew?

Maybe some Indian Willoughby AA, some Sumatran Green Mountain or if you’re feeling especially adventurous, how about some weasel coffee where the coffee beans have been eaten and then chucked up by weasels. No, I’m not kidding.

That’s your Monday mission this week. Hit up your corner coffee shop for some good coffee and enjoy that in the office. If you print out a little sign explaining the new coffee and what kind it is – even better!

Of course, this works with tea too :o)

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

Your mission this Monday is to have some fun at work. Even Tom Peters thinks this is an absolute necessity:

Don’t do it [work] unless it’s fun.
Make it fun. (Always possible, per me.)
Make it fun for others. (Which makes it fun/more fun for you.)
- Tom Peters (source)

How do you make work fun? Here are a few ideas you can try out this Monday.

Amber recommends Silly Putty.

I bought a pound of Silly Putty in bulk and gave a chunk to each of my team. It is amazing the pen holders, stress relievers, sculptures, etc. that have evolved. Well worth the $15!

Shel recommends candy and workplace toys:

I put a bowl of peppermint lifesavers (you can buy them in bags, individually wrapped for hygene) on my desk. Lots of people stop by and grab one – which has lead to some great conversations – work and other wise. I also have a Rubic’s Cube, a Magic 8 Ball, and this bizarre plastic ball made up of geometric parts that cause it to flip inside out (changing its colour) when tossed in the air, a mini Zen garden, and other items to busy one’s hands while talking – or just hanging out. It’s a great way to create a relaxing atmosphere!

I’ve always been partial to foosball myself, but maybe that’s too Silicon Valley, dot-com-boom for your workplace.

If you need inspiration, there are plenty more toys here…

How do you create some fun at work? Write a comment, I’d really like to know!

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

Bet you never saw this one coming: Yes, the Chief Happiness Officer wants you to complain at work.

Complaining is good for you and for the workplace. Show me a workplace where no one ever complains, and I’ll show you a workplace where people are so afraid of conflict and uncomfortable conversation that very little change is possible.

However, you must complain constructively following the tips in this post. This means complaining at the right time, to the right person about the right problem. As opposed to just moaning all the time to whoever will listen about whatever bugs you the most.

So pick one problem that’s been bugging you at work and decide:

• Who to raise it with
• When to raise it
• How to raise it

Then do it. No point in just letting that problem annoy you day after day – speak up and get it fixed.

Related:

• How to complain constructively
• How to handle chronic complainers
• 5 steps to resolve a conflict at work

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

There’s a theme on the blog this week: Forgiveness.

This is not something we see often in the workplace. It’s certainly not a practice that we speak off often, teach much in seminars, or ask about in new hires.

But it is still a hugely important strength that some people possess and some don’t. The ability to forgive others, is one of the virtues that lead to a happy life.

And that is why this week’s Monday Tip is to forgive someone at work. I’m sure that at some point, someone has done something that annoyed you, inconvenienced you or made you mad at work.

Forgive’em for that. Right now. I’m not saying you need to forgive everyone who’s ever slighted you for everything they’ve ever done. No, no, just pick one thing that one person has done and then simply forgive him or her for that. Don’t tell them that they’re forgiven – this is not about them it’s about you. Just let it show in your actions and your behavior, that you no longer hold that against them.

Choose one person and one act, and then forgive that person for that act. Once and for all, never to let that particular grudge return. Remember, you can still hang on to all your other grudges.

Then notice how it feels to have forgiven. Then write a comment and tell me about it – I’d really like to know :o)

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

Get out! That’s this week’s Monday tip.

Sarah Yeoh writes:

I try to take an hour lunch break each day and GET OUT OF THE OFFICE. Fresh air, walk, lunch, chat, sunshine (if weather permits) etc. It’s a good way to get to know your work colleagues and I think it really helps in reducing stress.

I often find that I have a clearer head when I return to my work hence increased productivity. It’s a simple suggestion but I think that there are a lot of people who just work through lunch and eat at their desk. You could pick someone new to have lunch with each Monday!

Yes! Some fresh air, some scenery and some physical activity. What’s not to like. Thanks for the tip, Sarah!

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

For a while now, I haven’t been putting up new Monday tips – you know those fun, easy, little things you can do in five minutes or less to make yourself or someone else happy at work.

I gotta come clean here: I’ve sorta run out of ideas. I try to come up with new ones, but I’m stuck. I need your help!

What do YOU do to spread some happiness at work? What are the little things others have done that cheered you up at work? What would be a really cool thing to do to make the workplace more fun?

The only requirements are that it must be easy, fun and something you can do in five minutes or less. Write a comment if you have any experiences/ideas and we’ll re-invigorate the Monday tips together.

Imagine that you’ve been with your current company for a few years, and now you’re moving on to a new job. On your last day at the old company, your co-workers and friends get together to celebrate you – or maybe just to make sure that you’re actually leaving :)

Anyway, at this reception one of them gives a short speech about you. About:

• What you’ve stood for in the company.
• The results you’ve created.
• The people you’ve helped out.
• What they’ve appreciated about working with you.
• What they’re going to miss about you.

Your mission this Monday is to write the speech you hope they will give you. Don’t make it too long, just 3-5 paragraphs extolling your virtues based on the points above. Remember, at a reception, they’re not going to blame your for your mistakes or list all your faults – they’ll be nice.

Of course, the real question here is: What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be? Then take a look at the speech you’ve written and ask yourself what you can do to live up to it.

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

By the way: Do you have any ideas for future Monday Tips? How do you make yourself and others happy at work in fun, simple, easy ways? I’d love to hear your suggestions, so write a comment if you have one.

This monday tip comes from Marco of evenhappier.com.

Some of us have always thought that a compliment which we ask for is never worth receiving. Maybe we think that if we ask for it, then it must be insincere.

Is that always the case? In fact, even a compliment that we don’t ask for can be insincere and sometimes by asking for a compliment we can get an honest feedback. How can that happen? Some people are simply not accustomed to paying compliments and need encouragement. Even people very close to us might be unable to understand what kind of recognition we need unless we ask.

So what about asking your boss for feedback on a recent project which you have successfully completed? You will make yourself happier, teaching him how to be a better manager in the process!

I gotta say that sounds like a great idea. And why limit it to the boss? Your mission this Monday, is to ask a co-worker, team member or employee for feedback.

Thanks Marco!

By the way: Do you have any ideas for future Monday Tips? How do you make yourself and others happy at work in fun, simple, easy ways? I’d love to hear your suggestions, so write a comment if you have one.

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.

This week’s Monday Tip is about appreciating the people around you at work. Who do you like? Why do you like them?

Make a list of your closest co-workers. Not necessarily the ones you like the best, but the ones you have the most dealings with. Then, for each person on your list, write down at least five things you appreciate about that person. Things they’re good at, ways they make your life easier, their personal or professional skills and qualities… as long as it’s something positive.

That’s it. You don’t need to show your list to anyone, just take a moment to make it.

Now, when you make that list, there may be a person on it that really annoys you. Every workplace I’ve ever been in, there’s always been at lest one person who really honked me off. The trick here is to also find five things you appreciate about that person too. As the saying goes, there’s some good in everyone and if you can’t see it, it’s because you don’t want to see it.

And then I usually get the counter-argument: What about Hitler? (Or Stalin, Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden). Is there something good in them too? And I say let’s skip that entire discussion – if you work with one of those guys, you may leave them out of the exercise :o)

By the way: Do you have any ideas for future Monday Tips? How do you make yourself and others happier in fun, simple, easy ways? Write a comment if you have a suggestion.

The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

Previous monday tips.