Creative Reaction

As I was writing the previous post, The Power of Happiness, I noticed Harvard Business Publishing’s Discussion Leader Blog was also linking to the same research. They add a managerial perspective to the discussion in Why You Need to Be a Happier Manager.

The post links to other articles on the contagious happiness study from NYT and Time Magazine, and then offers these tips for managers (which I’ve summarized):

• Resolve to cheer - It is a leader’s obligation to spread confidence.
• Pick your moments - Especially when people need encouragement.
• Keep on doing it - Persevere.

“A happy workplace… (makes) coming to work a more pleasant experience. Productivity even improves, and so too does engagement.”

Happiness does not make up for an organization’s shortcomings, though along with a great product and excellent service, it is clearly an ingredient for success.

Great article over at Harvard Business Publishing’s Discussion Leaders about the difficulties of leadership when morale is low, mentioning two issues in particular; a lack of faith in management and the high amount of workplace anxiety due to job cutting. For the middle manager, the challenges are doubly difficult - as you are managing your staff in difficult times, your own job may be at stake.

What to do? The article offers this advice:

• Make the most of the situation, focusing on what is positive.
• Communicate, separating facts from rumors.
• Collaborate, working together to solve issues creatively
• Focus on results; not presenteeism and busy work.

Ultimately, the challenge is to be stronger as your company works its way out of the current downturn, moving ahead of your competitors.

This longer than usual 3-page article in BusinessWeek is aimed at management geeks, and applies to creative businesses only in a general way, yet it covers some very important issues.

Matching the Right People to the Right Jobs is just as critical to a company’s success as a great product or service. Sometimes employees are promoted into management even though they lack management skills. Sometimes businesses grow and it’s hard for managers to delegate their growing responsibilities. Sometimes the industries change. The article covers all of these cases, plus a few more, also discussing when it’s best to bring in outside consultants.