Life's a Beach

March 31, 2007 - Problems, Peeves, and Solutions

Something got me to thinking this morning about "pet peeves" or the little things that just kinda irk you, and how your general state of mind can be affected if too many of these little things pile up. So, I started thinking about what I would like to see replace the little peeves in my life to make things better, for me.

Peeve: Early morning tv is FLOODED with infomercials for diet aides, exercise contraptions, and things to make you a "better" being. This all subconsciously tells you that maybe you arent perfect just as you are.
Solution: Replace all these infomercials with time lapse footage of all kinds of things created and growing in nature. That kind of footage always seems to give me a clearer and better perspective of how perfect a thing creation is and my place in it.

Peeve: negativity and general low morale in the workplace. (This may not be a problem for some of us)
Solution: I'd like to see offices employ a "Positive Enforcer"...this person's sole responsibility would be to be on the lookout for Monday morning blues, burnout, general dissatisfaction. When any of these are identified, the PE would stop by the desk of the needy and tell them a joke, bring a fresh cup of coffee, take them outside for a quick walk in the sunshine, send an e-mail to their supervisor about something great the person did that may have been overlooked, or arrange for some unexpected teamwork to lighten the load. Did I mention the PE would be dressed as a giant pink bunny and would hand out door prizes every hour?

Peeve: The current climate of being "politically correct" has sapped the sense of humour out of life. I'm lucky that I lived in a time that existed before PC-ness became a requirement. But lots of kids will grow up not knowing the world "before".
Solution: The vulcan mind meld should be instituted for anyone who is offended by, and who offends, so that understanding from the heart could be fostered. I think this could really do away with a lot of anger and unhappiness in the world.

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April 2, 2007 - Pet Peeves

Posted by Ginafish

I didn't enjoy negative people in the workplace either. Some people are happier when they are negative though. So then you have to present 2 kinds of cheering up. Free chocolates and back rubs for the happy happy people, 2 hours off earlier and a dart board with the boss's face for the unhappy unhappy people. :)

Then for the two hours the unhappy people are gone, the happy people can be happily productive. That is ...the two of you left can bust your butt and do the work of 40 others... ;)

Seriously...
I worked in healthcare for a long time at a medical center with a staff of 1,200. Nurses, cafeteria, doctors were constantly being audited by patients and being recognized for good and bad behavior. I realized the need to recognize good behavior needed to happen for the behind the scenes folks too and started a program called CARE. It's an acronym for all this good customer service stuff. Anyway, anyone (patients or fellow employees) could (anonymously or not) nominate anyone on staff for a CARE award. Once a quarter, a team would read all the nominations and vote. Winners did things like take a co-worker home whose car had broken down, did double duty to cover a secretary's desk whose child had gotten really sick, someone took clothes to a patient who had no family...etc.. Then they'd get a yellow happy face pin they could put on their badge. After they got 5 yellow happy's, they'd be upgraded to a silver, after 5 silvers, they'd get a 'gold' happy face pin. It really helped boost morale in some areas that felt neglected from the patient survey, and was very obvious after a year who the outstanding employees were.

If your business has an internal employee satisfaction monitoring system, you might go talk to them. Or you could create your own "pat yourself on the back today" kind of thing for your area.

Sorry for the LOoonng response. :)

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April 3, 2007 - The Team Player award

Posted by thartley

Ginafish-

I HAVE instituted a thing we call the Team Player award. You have a playing card with boxes which spell out "Team Player" and for everything noteworthy that you do, you get one funny money sticker to put in one box. Once all the boxes are filled, you can turn it in for a half day off with pay. I thought this was a fantastic way to give everyone what they wanted and something to work for, and we STILL had people complaining about it and not wanting to participate. Since its voluntary, that's okay. But if a person is going to be doing "sticker-worthy" work, might as well get a sticker and take a half day off, eventually. They even get one sticker each month if they just show up without calling out sick or missing a day. *sigh*

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