Tips for Positive Attitude at Workplace

All of our feelings, beliefs and knowledge are based on our internal thoughts, both conscious and subconscious. We are in control, whether we know it or not. We can be positive or negative, enthusiastic or dull, active or passive. The biggest difference between people is their attitudes. Attitude is a mental position relative to a way of thinking or being; a leaning toward that which we believe. A Positive Attitude is, therefore, the inclination to generally be in an optimistic, hopeful state of mind. It is up to us to choose our attitude every morning. Positive attitude skyrocket the level of happiness, converts problems in to opportunities, reduces stress, enhances creativity, helps to earn respect, friends and lot more. Under the current economic crisis which has affected every enterprise, every sector adversely, it is difficult to maintain a positive attitude at workplace. In fact, sometimes it seems like Mission Impossible. Instead of falling victim to the negative work attitudes that surround us lets make an effort to buck the trend. A positive attitude in the workplace determines how far we can go in our career.We can enjoy our work more and achieve workplace or business related goals more easily and faster. This research paper is an effort to help you build and maintain positive attitude at workplace. It highlights how by following certain specific strategies you can recharge yourself. So its time to dust yourself off, get back into the mainstream, put your dreams together and move forward by following some tips on positive attitude.

Introduction
 

Happiness is the most important aspect of our life. Why do I say this? Because if we really examine everything we do and everything we want to have, I would bet that it's because we believe doing and having those things will make us happy. Am I right? If we want a new car, or a new relationship, why do we want those things? Ultimately, it's because we believe these things will make us happy. Being happy is really the main goal of pretty much every living person on this planet earth. Once we understand that happiness is our true goal, we also start to understand that new stuff, new relationships, and new achievements aren't really what we are after. Sure, they might be nice side benefits, but if we are happy now, would any of that stuff really matter much?
Not all the things that happen around us are pleasant and under our control. If we are not well prepared, bad things will affect our mental health and can defeat us. No matter how bad the situation gets, try always to be the one who decides how to react to it and how much it can affect. This is where the importance of a positive attitude comes in.
What is a Positive Attitude?
A positive attitude builds up rather than tears down. It is an orientation towards making things better and being the change that we want to see in our work and the world. It is not a technique to manipulate. Rather it encourages the best in others to be revealed through our own good example..
Positive Attitude at Workplace
If I am a manager, I just can't afford to have negative, non-performing employees on my payroll. Negative employees not only produce less, but they also cost more. Negative employees destroy morale. Negative employees do just enough to get by. They don't have a lot of drive, and they don't take a lot of initiative. They've got a lousy work attitude. A positive attitude in the workplace simply refers to the fact that people we come into contact will clearly see that we are someone who cares about work and are someone who they can rely on.
How Does an Employee with a Good Positive Attitude Behave?
1.    Positive employees know hard work is good for the soul.
Most people know it's good for the company. They know it's good for the customer. And, they may even know that it s even good for the country. But only the winners know it's also good for the soul.
2.    Positive employees decide to enjoy their work - no matter what.
Certainly, no job is perfect, and there's always room for improvement. There's always something to complain about. In spite of that, winners decide they're going to like their work. It's a decision they make, not a feeling they have only if      everything is going well. Your job may not be fun. It may not even be meaningful. But if you're a winner, you're going to enjoy your work, no matter what.
3.    Positive employees see the good in every situation.
Like anyone else they can see what's wrong with a situation, but positive employees don't get stuck on that point. Winners keep themselves motivated by seeing the good in any situation and focus on how they could make it better.
4.    Positive employees ask how they can do more than is expected.
Every business manager knows the cardinal rule in business is to under-promise and over-deliver. Positive employees are never satisfied with merely getting by or doing the bare minimum. They know if they were to do that they couldn't possibly feel good about themselves. Positive employees find out what's expected and do their best to exceed those expectations. Whether it's dazzling a customer with better service than one has ever experienced before - or surprising a coworker by offering extra help - positive employees focus on how they can do more, not less.
Why Developing a Positive Attitude is Worth the Effort?
A positive attitude is a definite tonic and antidote to the pressures that one as an employee in an organization experience everyday. Positive attitude at workplace reduces stress, improves sales and customer relations, enhances productivity, increases motivation, teamwork, decision making, interpersonal relations and helps in overcoming challenges.
 



How does positive attitude can be developed?
Positive attitude at work can make amazing difference. We can start creating a positive attitude in our workplace. Some important tips to develop positive attitude to set our-self  in right direction are as follows:
1. Express Gratitude – Gratitude is "the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful." We should be appreciative of everyone who does a good job and gets things done on time. We should be especially appreciative of those who go above and beyond what they’re required to do. Appreciation feels good for both the giver and the receiver. When we are in a state of gratitude we are resonating and sending out a frequency of acceptance and harmony. This is a high vibration and as a result we can draw and attract the events, conditions, synchronicities and circumstances that we want to manifest into our life. When we are grateful for the things that we have and express gratitude it takes it to another level and opens the door to feeling optimistic. Think, feel, and express gratitude both for the small and the big things that take place in the workplace. French philosopher Jacques Maritain always said in his quote that "Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy." According to Whitmore, "neglecting to say thank you is one of the single biggest problems in the world today. People criticize others something is forgotten, but for many people, it is difficult remembering to offer a kind word when something nice happens." Showing appreciation to someone who did something special for us is just one of the highest forms of respect and politeness we can offer them. Employees rarely hear a thank you comment when they deal with an angry customer.
Instance: “The past year has been challenging for many people, but through your hard work and with the loyalty of your subscribers, you’ve been able to survive the rough economic climate,” such words from the employer or saying something as simple as: “We recognize that you’ve had many challenges this past year, so we just wanted to say thank you for always keeping us in mind and supporting our business/organization” not only encourages employees but develops a positive attitude in them. 
As a manager, peer, superior, subordinate always express gratitude towards each other. A kind word or a "good job," a pat on the back or a question about someone's health can go a long way toward motivating employees. There is a need to change the way towards co-workers. Instead of being standoffish, compliment co-workers on a job well done. Thank the ones that make the job easier. After two weeks of showing appreciation, there will be a quick and appreciable change in the way we feel about our co-workers as well as our own personal feelings about the workplace.
Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.
 

2. Celebrate the Victories - For some reason, many people tend to focus on everything they don’t like and that’s going wrong. We should try instead to focus our attention on things that are going well by taking time often to celebrate the victories at work. Reward yourself or praise another individual for a job well done. If one is a part of a team that does something successfully, a get-together should be arranged to celebrate it. As a manager, frequent notes should be sent out to the staff outlining things that are going well for the company. Recognition of achievements is high on the list of employee motivators. Every Big Project consists of scores of little victories along the way. Celebration builds confidence, and confident people are open to feedback. This means your employees will be more willing to grow with your company.
Instance: A branch of an NBFC always over-achieved its target. The staff respected their Boss a lot. They were very happy to work with him. The Boss always followed an attitude of celebrating small-small achievements at branch. Sales was at its peak as when the team used to achieve its target the boss organized a small snacks party at the branch and sometimes a lunch at a cool restaurant. A small get-together or habit of throwing a party on mini achievements resulted in an outstanding overall performance of the branch.
Celebrate what you want to see more of. Thomas J. Peters

3) Convert Problems Into Opportunities – If problems are encountered, don’t just 
focus on them. Instead, change focus by asking yourself or your team, “How can we solve this issue, and what can we learn from it?” Every problem, or challenge, is an opportunity to learn and grow. Don’t wallow in the issue; focus on the potential to become better instead.
Instance: Mr. Malhotra, a Factory Supervisor was working for a Public Limited Company. A very religious man, but short tempered. I was conducting a Personal Effectiveness Training Program for this company. Mr. Malhotra, one of the participants, after doing the SWOT Analysis Exercise came to me and asked. I have a weakness which I would like to share.  He said, "Ravi, tell me one thing. I'm very religious type of a  person. Every morning before the shift starts, I do pray for 10 minutes in the factory shop floor, religiously and regularly." he went on. "But immediately after my prayers, I have to go to the shop floor and blast out at my sub-ordinates, and the factory workers." When I asked him why? he said, "Ravi, these  fools, if you don't use slang they do not understand, they do not start their work.", "And above all they call me TAKLU (Bald)", "If you don't get angry then what do you do with these people?"
After analyzing the whole issue, I understood that the real problem is not at the shop floor or with the subordinates or the workers. The main culprit is the baldness of Mr. Malhotra, which is a major weakness, which he is experiencing. Some of the notorious factory workers have found a way to upset Mr. Malhotra, i.e. call him "TAKLU" or pass a comment, and then for a few minutes everybody will enjoy Mr. Malhotra in re-action.
I asked Mr. Malhotra a simple question. i.e. "Mr. Malhotra tell me, if people start calling you "HAIRWALA" instead of "TAKLU" will you like it." Prompt came the reply, "it will sound weird. " Next I asked, "Can you grow hair on your head now? You can use shampoo, oil, tonic, massage or a Wig" and he said "In the last 30 years he has tried it all, but nothing works?" Next I asked, "What can you do," and he said, "I don't know, why has god made me "TAKLU", I feel frustrated" Just at that moment I said, "Mr. Malhotra, God have created a few perfect head, rest of them are covered with hair" and he smiled.
Please check out, there are so many people who raise their blood pressure, feel frustrated and  depressed because of some of their weakness which they just cannot change, or have no direct control over it. What they can best do is, first accept this weakness, acknowledge it and then start loving it, because god has made them like that. We just cannot change the colour of our skin, our place of birth, our parental background, and our past. There are certain areas which are not in our control at all. These weaknesses we need to accept it. There are certain weaknesses which we can work on – our Habits - our Behaviour. Can, we convert these weakness into our strength? Can, this weakness become an opportunity for you to grow?
Mr.Malhotra, having got some insight into Positive Attitude, next time when his factory people called him "TAKLU", he just started smiling and replying them, "Tell me... what happen..? The very same people started getting surprised and over a period of time they stopped calling him "TAKLU".
So when somebody points at our weakness or our short comings, instead of getting short tempered and reacting, we should make that as an opportunity to grow. We should convert this weakness as our greatest strength and as an opportunity to grow rather then dealing it as a threat.
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
 
4) Keep Healthy and Well Rested – Sleep is absolutely essential to improve and maintain energy levels, immune system effectiveness, mental and emotional clarity and overall quality of life. When we feel good, we function better. It’s tough to have a positive attitude when we’re feeling run down and tired. We should make sure that we’re getting enough sleep, eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking enough water, and getting regular exercise. This may all sound time-consuming, but we’ll end up having much more energy and focus and we’ll actually be able to get more done in less time. We’ll also feel much better mentally, which will help us maintain that positive attitude. A few ways to keep rested are: Practice meditation, Watch a good funny movie, If one enjoys cooking, choose a new dish to make, Go for a walk for just the purpose of enjoying walk, take some time to sit in front of the sea and relax letting calm come to you, Plan a picnic in the park, Take along a good book or an interesting magazine. Relax, be open to meet people, draw, paint, write, compose poetry, mould clay, even if not done anything like that before.


Instance: Sophia (personal loan officer) was a star performer in the office. But since last two months her sales graph was declining. She started getting irritated with customers, other staff members and sometimes with her-self. Boss was very much worried with this behavior of hers. It was adversely affecting the branch’s sales. One day Boss sat with her and had a conversation for sometime. He found out that because of long working hours and her two months of moving in her family way she was somehow not able to give enough time to herself. This lack of rest resulted in her harsh and rude behavior at branch. Soon after the discussion Boss decided to allow her to take rest for one hour after lunch everyday. She started feeling much better mentally and physically. Sophia bounced back with an absolutely energetic and enthusiastic mood and her performance level shoot up again. He  who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything.”
5) Smile – Always smile, even if not feeling like it. A smile actually shifts how we feel internally. And when others see us smiling, they feel better as well. The simplest way to demonstrate a positive attitude is to smile. This expression has so many benefits to us and everybody around us. It is a marvelous way to show others that we are feeling good. Seeing someone smile makes others smile too! If our smile is genuine, we should give it to others so that they can be touched by it! Of course there are external events that may trigger positive or negative emotions, but our attitude is ultimately a choice that we make internally. A smile is a good way to re-boot our positive attitude if we find it crashing. A genuine smile comes from within - a demonstration of good feelings and emotions. The expression is brought on by the emotions that we feel, and not by a decision to merely turn up the corners of our mouth.
 
Instance: When I entered the office in the morning Puneet greeted me with a smile. When I asked him “Hey Puneet, How are you?” He replied “Very good, Boss”. Such positive reverts from him with his ever smiling face always filled me with comfort that everything is fine in the office. Sometimes I think if he would have said without smiling “not too bad, Boss” instead of good I might have felt a bit worried.
If people want to improve customer service in business, a great strategy is to tell all the front line people to smile! When an employee addresses the complaining customer with a smile, half of the problem gets already solved. Smile lightens up everything. It removes the darkness and fills positivism everywhere. Smile sets everything straight.
“Smiling makes you feel better about yourself, even if you don't feel like it. And it always makes other people think better of you.”
6) The “No Complaining” Policy –No one likes a complainer. As a manager, tell the team that it would not be liked if they come with an issue unless they have a proposed solution to go with it. While reporting to someone else, refrain from whining to them. Instead, one should go to his/her boss and explain that he has a challenge and would like to offer a way to solve it. This both minimizes complaining and turns the focus away from the issue and to possible solutions instead, thereby maintaining a constructive work environment. Look for the good in people at work.  Instead of focusing on qualities that may irritate or cause to have a bad attitude, focus on the enjoyable qualities of the co-workers. These are people that one spends a considerable amount of time with. One needs to learn to tolerate their company. Complaining is one of the biggest problems in business today. Negativity in the workplace costs businesses billions of dollars and impacts the morale, productivity and health of individuals and teams.

Every complaint represents an opportunity to turn something negative into a positive!

7).The Win–Win Policy – Make it own personal philosophy or make it a requirement in the workplace that each agreement reached must be win–win. Agreements and negotiations must never favor one party. There is always a way to make agreements positive for both parties involved. Always do the best to work out a solution that implements as many of the good ideas for both sides as possible. Businesses where every participant is a winner is new and unattainable to many who were groomed to think that in the business world, the winner takes it all. Here are the merits of adopting this attitude in business-
•    The Win- Win attitude makes one more friends.
•    It makes people more creative.
•    It invents lasting partnerships.
•    Win-Win attitude creates trust when used.

 
Conflicts are a normal part of life; how we deal with them can make a big difference. Often when people resolve conflicts, one person ends up a winner, and one loses out. This may solve the problem for the moment, but resentment and bad feelings can cause more problems later. Another way to look at conflicts is to try to find a WIN-WIN solution, in which both sides can benefit. In this way, conflicts are turned into opportunities to grow and make things better. This approach is the cornerstone of "conflict resolution" - an important tool for bringing peace into our personal lives, our communities and to our world. – Robert Alan
“The Law of Win/Win says,” Let’s not do it your way or my way; let’s do it the best way” ( Greg Anderson)
8) Put People Into Positions that Use Their Strengths – What better way for people to enjoy their job than to have them doing things they’re good at and that they enjoy. People will be more motivated and get better results when they enjoy what they do. Some people like crunching numbers: get them to work on the spreadsheets that need to be done. Others like talking to people: maybe they would like working in customer service. Some people are natural problem solvers: put their skills to use. If we play on people’s strengths, we’ll see a dramatic shift toward a positive attitude in the workplace.
Instance: Pranay, Customer Relationship Manager, Current profile: Sales/Operation, Candidate is misfit because:
•    His inability to close sales within a given timeframe
•    Too talkative
•    No sales orientation



Result:
•    Boss is unhappy with the CRM.
•    The CRM is unhappy and frustrated with this situation because he thinks he is trying his level best but the results are not coming.
Boss’s solution: Let’s use his strength of being very friendly and talkative with the customers and place him as a Customer Service Manager. Now because of his inherent core strength of enjoying interaction with people he started enjoying his new job thereby yielding magnificent results.
In examining the potential of individuals, we must focus on their strengths and not just their mistakes.
9) Trust Others and Evaluate People Based on Their Results – As a manager, trust the people to do the jobs they were hired for. If we give people the authority to do their jobs, we will get amazing results, much better than if we hover over them. Tell the people what they have to achieve, and then let them go do it. When we trust them to do it well, they will want to honor that trust. Most people will do the best they can to live up to the confidence we’re placing in them, and they will appreciate us for it. There might be the occasional person who takes advantage of this policy, but their attitude will show itself quite quickly. Trust the employees and expect them to excel in their endeavors. For instance, If we are going into the relationship expecting our employees to fail or do something that will cause our company harm then they will likely not disappoint us. If there is no trust, productivity and morale are affected, and, once lost, rebuilding trust can be a long, drawn out and often costly process. Trust is such an essential part of working life that sometimes we forget that we can’t manufacture it. Trust at all levels of workers is important but that between a manager and their team is crucial; if trust is lost, the cohesion amongst the work team will erode and subordinates will withdraw support. Worse, it will lead to an increase in absenteeism, turnover, conflict and safety problems. Trust can be destroyed by perceived ‘dark sides’ of personality – those parts of our personality that we usually keep hidden from others, but seep out under pressure: arrogance, contempt, incompetence, insensitivity, over-controlling, unfairness, lack of clarity and transparency, lack of support when it is needed or hearing something that was said in confidence repeated in office gossip all destroy trust.
Instance: Kavita, a customer service manager of a telecommunication firm thought she was operating with the best interests of the company in mind. Yet at a meeting of her management team a day before, Kavita’s Boss did not support her; In fact he belittled her with his unfounded remarks. Kavita was upset, but said nothing to her Boss in defense. After the meeting she quickly left the room feeling quite defeated. The next day Kavita took a risk. She knew she could be fired for speaking up. Yet she also knew she had to do something and she had to do it soon! After a sleepless night worrying, Kavita walked in to her Boss’s office and asked if they could talk. She told her boss her type of story: that she felt misunderstood and betrayed by her boss’s comments and actions the day before and that her boss’s comments were not justified. The two of them talked the situation through. The boss admitted the mistake he made, and Kavita took responsibility for her part.

Both talked about what they would do to prevent misunderstanding in the future. Kavita and her boss were able to restore trust and confidence in each other and in their relationship. This helped Kavita for building more positive attitude.
He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted”
 
10) Focus on What You Enjoy. Improve the Things You Don’t Enjoy –
Is there any dream job? In reality, there is no such thing. Consequently, when people succeed in getting their dream job they quickly become unhappy and disappointed.
How much we enjoy being at work can depend on what our expectations are and what kind of outlook we have on life. For example, Do we consider our work frustrating and stressful Or we think of it as challenging and exciting?
If we feel unhappy at work, then we should ask ourselves these questions: Am I learning from what I am doing? Is there a career path for me in the company? Is anything I am doing at work consistent with my personal goals?
If I answer yes to any of the questions, then maybe the problem is with how I think and not with the job. We should think about what we enjoy in our office or workplace. We must find something positive in every situation. And when things go wrong, we should try to find out the answer to the question: "What can I learn from this?"
If we approach our work with a more positive attitude then maybe we'll find ourself closer to our dream job than we thought. We should make a list of the things that we enjoy about our job and the workplace. Then make it a point to review this list often as a reminder that there are good things about the workplace. For the things which we don’t enjoy, we should ask our-self how we could make them tolerable. Could we do them at a different time, in a different location, maybe with some music going? Can we speak to our manager about them, and offer a possible solution? Can we see anything good about them? If so, should focus on that instead. We should keep challenging our-self with the question of how we can make things better until we feel a noticeable difference in our attitude toward those tasks.Avoiding talking to people at the office who are full of negativity and have nothing but bad things to say, likewise, not speaking negatively about the company or perpetuate negative feelings about the work environment helps in building positive attitude. Negative type of behavior only makes feelings of resentment and frustration more intense. Find something at work to get excited about. It may be finishing a project, or planning a lunch with co-workers. Plan a company event, join a committee or get involved in some company activity. Increasing one’s sense of belonging within a company will increase a person’s happiness to be there. There are many things that can create fun at work with little effort involved. But to make a change, the process and the responsibility start with each individual.

We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy, on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile. Earl Nightingale

 
So, we conclude that we can always create a positive attitude at the workplace. Employee attitudes have a tremendous impact on the success or failure of an organization.  It affects everything from customer service to employee turnover and profits.  We can control our attitude and we can also have a positive impact on others in our organization.
 


CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that we can always create a positive attitude at the workplace. Employee attitudes have a tremendous impact on the success or failure of an organization.  It affects everything from customer service to employee turnover and profits.  Although attitude can be changed overnight, yet we can control our attitude and we can also have a positive impact on others in our organization. No Complain policy and win-win attitude come to our rescue whenever we wish to change the attitude of others and of self.


REFERENCES:

•    http://www.positive-attitude-tips.com
•    http://www.the-benefits-of-positive-thinking.com
•    http://www.find-your-dream-career.com
•    http://www.humorpower.com
•    http://ezinearticles.com