Mindfulness In The Workplace: Practical

Ways To Introduce It
It seems as though everyone is currently jumping on the mindfulness
bandwagon: from Google through to Nike. But is it just another trendy fad
or could there be something in it? If the notion of mindfulness conjures up
an image of yoga mats, incense burning or mantra chanting, then it’s time
to think again. You see the likes of Google and Nike have discovered that
promoting mindfulness at work can lead to improvements in staff members’
concentration, focus and energy levels and so can have a significant
impact on efficient and effective working as well as a happier and healthier
office. But what is mindfulness and how can you introduce it to a somewhat
skeptical workforce? In this post, we define the concept of mindfulness and
what it means in the context of the workplace. We then go on to look at
some practical ways that you can encourage mindfulness in the workplace
amongst employees.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is essentially about awareness. It means being focused in the
moment and not allowing yourself to be distracted by what happened at
that meeting yesterday or what tasks must be completed
tomorrow.Practicing mindfulness enables you to really concentrate on the
task at hand. And in a workplace full of distractions, the ability to focus on
what’s important is becoming an increasingly useful skill not only to get the
job done, but also to absorb and synthesize the sheer volume of
information that passes across our desks or screens every day. And that’s
why the big corporates like Nike, Google and Deloitte are implementing
mindfulness techniques.
Far from being a new fad, mindfulness actually has its origins in Buddhist
teachings. In Buddhism mindfulness is practiced to encourage self-
knowledge and wisdom and it’s this element of taking a step back and
adopting a more measured approach that is behind the popularity of
mindfulness in the workplace. With as many as one in four
Americans identifying work as being a source of anxiety, responsible
employers are becoming increasingly creative in seeking ways to relieve
stress and anxiety while at the same time enhancing concentration and
focus.
The Benefits Of Mindfulness In The Workplace
We’ve touched on several of these already, but it’s worthwhile being
upfront about the potential benefits on offer, especially if your staff
members (or even managers) are unconvinced of its value. In a recent
article the Harvard Business Review examined in detail the benefits and
the scientific research into the effectiveness of mindfulness. The benefits
can be summarized as follows:
Mindfulness helps to build resilience. Practicing mindfulness techniques
and more specifically meditation can decrease the effects of anxiety and
stress. It has the potential to enhance your sense of resilience and ability to
perform under stress.
Mindfulness can strengthen emotional intelligence. Being mindful helps
to improve our levels of patience and ability to regulate our emotions.
Having an inner sense of calm makes it easier for us to cope when things
don’t go our way. It also means that we’re better equipped to deal with
workplace disagreement or differences of opinion and are less emotional in
our reaction to events.

Mindfulness promotes creativity. Being relaxed and chilled out as a

result of practicing mindfulness means that we are also giving ourselves
the opportunity to be more creative. Empirical research suggests that
mindfulness enables greater insights and more out-of-the-box innovatory
thinking. And so as well as helping you to be calmer, mindfulness will
encourage your innate creativity.
Mindfulness enhances personal relationships. All that stress, anxiety,
anger and distraction apparent in the non-mindful workplace makes for
strained interpersonal relationships. Practicing mindful techniques including
meditation makes us all a bit more tolerant and compassionate and,
therefore, has a positive impact on the personal connections between
colleagues.
Mindfulness helps you focus. How many times have you caught yourself
daydreaming at work? It happens to the best of us. Even CEOs can find
their minds wandering onto thinking about what’s for dinner. We’re all guilty
of operating on autopilot from time to time. Multiply this natural tendency
with all the distractions evident in the modern workplace: from the ping of
an email notification, through to phone calls or colleagues dropping by with
a query and it can be hard to stay on task. However, studies have shown
that mindfulness with its emphasis on the present helps us to stay more
focused and improves our ability to concentrate.
The Pitfalls Of Practicing Mindfulness In The
Workplace
As with most things, there are two sides to the story and there are some
potential pitfalls that you need to be aware of. A recent HuffPost blog
article looked at the pitfalls which include the following:
Mindfulness should be voluntary. Employees shouldn’t feel pressured
into practicing mindfulness if it’s not a good fit for them. To do otherwise
would be counterintuitive and goes against the essence of mindfulness. So
any program of workplace mindfulness, if it’s to be a success, has to
respect the individual’s right to opt out. It should be seen as one of the tools
in an employer’s toolkit for promoting employee wellness generally in the
workplace.
Mindfulness isn’t a productivity tool. Employers that introduce
mindfulness programs as a means of increasing productivity are being
disingenuous. Mindfulness is all about promoting different ways of thinking
and acting in the workplace and a useful by-product may well be that all-
round productivity receives a boost. However, it shouldn’t be the main
motivation nor should it replace genuine attempts to address obstacles to
productivity such as stress or anxiety in the workplace.

Having established the potential benefits of promoting mindfulness at work

along with some of the pitfalls to avoid, let’s turn our attention to practical
ways to implement mindfulness. The first point to make is that not all
employees are going to embrace the idea from the get-go. The image of
hippies, incense and earnestness will be hard to break.  Many will need to
be persuaded of the benefits mindfulness has to offer either by presenting
clear evidence or through a suck-it-and-see approach. Once they’ve had a
chance to experience for themselves mindfulness techniques such as
meditation, then they may feel differently.
Practical Ways To Introduce Mindfulness At
Work
1. Encourage Staff To Use Short Mindful Exercises At
Work
Get staff members to kick-start their day with the right mental attitude. After
a long commute in traffic or a restless night with sick children, starting the
day off with a mindful exercise can reinvigorate and reenergize employees
to face the challenges ahead. A great way to do this is with a breathing
exercise. It takes just 10 minutes and involves closing your eyes, sitting
upright and relaxing. Concentrate on your breathing. Be conscious of every
breath as it comes in and goes out. If other thoughts creep into your mind
or you find it hard to concentrate try counting up to three at each
exhalation. The main thing is to enjoy these minutes and the calmness that
they bring.  This simple exercise can help staff members to start off the day
with the right mental attitude. They will be more focused and able to
concentrate on the job at hand.
2. Introduce A Quiet Space
Meditation is an important part of mindfulness in the workplace. Some
companies have gone as far as bringing in a meditation expert to teach
staff how to meditate. And there’s no doubt that the ancient practice of
meditation is extremely beneficial to many people. In the context of
mindfulness at work, it’s important to provide those employees that want to
with a quiet space where they can meditate.
Not all employees will be into meditation though and the quiet space can be
utilized by them for some time out, providing an opportunity to refocus
without the distraction of emails, phones or office chatter. Some businesses
have found it helpful to include in the room photos or images from nature
which have a calming influence, along with classical or special relaxation
music. Or they have used positive images pertinent to the company
mission as a means of reminding staff about why they are there. For
example, a charitable organization may include photos and images of
successful projects and happy clients in the community.
3. Mandatory Regular Staff Breaks
Make it mandatory for staff to take regular breaks including a relaxing lunch
break. When the pressure is on it’s tempting to just keep going and before
you know it, you’ve missed out on lunch and haven’t even stopped for a
cup of coffee. This kind of pace is unsustainable in the long run. In fact, it is
downright detrimental to our health and wellbeing. Any program of
mindfulness at work needs to have at its core the necessity of regular short
breaks and taking a proper lunch break. Far from being a time waster,
taking regular breaks and completely detaching yourself from work for even
15 minutes will ensure that employees are better able to concentrate as
well as being more aware and refreshed. A quick breathing exercise,
stretch or walk round the block in the fresh air is all that’s required. Make
sure though that you switch off as many distractions as you can – log out of
your email account and switch off your phone.
And taking time out to really enjoy lunch rather than just grabbing a
sandwich at your desk is also an important part of practicing mindfulness
as well as enhancing overall employee health and wellbeing. As a
responsible employer, it’s important to encourage regular breaks and insist
on proper lunch breaks.
Some companies have even gone as far as scheduling five minute breaks
into daily schedules so that at the end of a meeting for example, there’s a
five minute break to allow staff to refocus and reset ready for the next task.
4. Introduce A System Of Gratitude Notes
Most of us have a natural tendency to focus on things that have gone
wrong rather than those that have gone well. Ask your partner how their
day has gone and the chances are they will recount some event that didn’t
quite go as planned or some negative episode.They are unlikely to share
something positive and this unbalanced way of thinking has an impact in
the workplace, allowing anxiety, negativity and stress to flourish. The way
to counteract this is through actively practicing gratitude. Encourage staff
members to write gratitude notes at the end of every day. It could be a
positive event or achievement, an enjoyable lunch with a colleague, a
successful meeting or even something simple such as being one step
closer to completing a project. The aim is to train the brain to be more
positive. Staff members that exercise gratitude and generally have a more
optimistic outlook will in turn impact on working relationships, health and
wellbeing as well as creativity and overall quality of work. What’s more,
practicing gratitude generally can have just as beneficial an effect at home
and in our personal relationships outside of work.
Mindfulness: Set The Ball Rolling In Your
Workplace
The concept of mindfulness at work is here to stay and it has much to offer.
Any initiative that improves positivity, focus and concentration among
employees has to be a worth a try, right? Use the office intranet to spread
the word about the value of mindfulness. A staff body that isn’t necessarily
convinced of the benefits may need persuading with lots of evidence and
video testimonials from individuals and companies that have successfully
introduced mindfulness. And while you’re at it why not showcase some of
the mindfulness techniques by publishing on the intranet how-to videos for
meditation and breathing exercises. In addition, a follow-up intranet survey
or poll can be used to assess the success of the mindfulness program by
canvassing staff views. With its all-staff coverage, the intranet is the perfect
platform for promoting the message about the value of mindfulness at work.
THE VALUE OF MINDFULNESS
IN OFFICE DESIGN AND HOW TO
ACHIEVE IT
by: Streamline | March 23, 2018
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You may have heard the term “mindfulness” used a lot of late, particularly in
the business world. And there’s a good reason for it. Mindfulness is more than
just the latest buzzword to surface and circulate amongst companies and
corporations.

The term, at its most boiled down, refers to a state of being conscious, aware
and in the moment. The fundamental idea is to focus our awareness on the
present moment to achieve a sense of calm and focus.

But what does mindfulness really mean to businesses? Why is it important

and how can offices be designed to encourage it?

Mindful Office Design Has Proven Benefits on Employee

Wellbeing
When we said that mindfulness was more than just a buzzword, we meant it.
As a whole, we’re more stressed at work than ever before. We spend a
sizeable portion of our lives at work and for many people, it’s a frenzied blur of
meetings, phone calls, and deadlines. By the time we leave for the day, we’re
often stressed out and exhausted.

But it doesn’t stop there. Technology has created constant accessibility, which
in turn has created a culture where we tend to take the job home with us. This
is skewing the traditional work-life balance.

Practicing mindfulness won’t reduce our workload, cut back the number of
meetings or phone calls we have to take, or get the tough boss off our backs.
But what it will do is allow us to maximize our spare moments during the
workday to reduce the pace, regroup and refocus.

It Can Directly Affect a Business’ Bottom Line

At its core, mindfulness is an ancient practice that is being implemented to
solve modern business issues – namely employee morale and productivity –
and it does a good job of doing so.

In fact, it’s so effective that companies like Google, Apple, Facebook,

LinkedIn, General Mills among many others have all adopted mindfulness
practices into their stress reduction programs.

And the reason for this is simple: there’s a proven correlation between
employee well-being and productivity. That is to say, happy employees will do
better work and make the business more profitable, and unhappy employees
will do the opposite.

Mindfulness presents a number of scientifically proven benefits including

reduced anxiety, improved cognition and sharpened focus. In fact, the practice
is also said to improve overall happiness and mental wellbeing.

Leveraging mindfulness within a company can be as structured as

implementing mindfulness seminars and encouraging meditation to start
meetings, or as flexible as simply designing spaces that make it convenient.

Whether a small-scale update or a full office revamp, here are a few ways to
design an atmosphere that uses the principles of mindfulness to foster focus,
morale and productivity.

Create a Space for Employees to Meditate

The term “meditate” can be used interchangeably here with any other number
of verbs – decompress, unwind, regroup. What’s important is the facilitation of
a space that is conducive to doing so.

One of the key principles of mindful office design is creating the ability to
escape the stress and distractions of the typical workplace through focus on
the present moment. A designated quiet space will allow employees to
practice mindfulness in whatever capacity they see fit – from breathing to
eating to being actively mindful of the peace and quiet.

Even an unused room or closet will suffice.

Develop Areas That Allow for Interaction Without

Devices or Distractions
We have very few free moments in the course of a workday and when we do
find a few, we oftentimes spend them staring into our devices.

Designing comfortable and relaxing “tech-free zones” where employees are

not only allowed to disconnect from their devices, but encouraged to. This will
help them momentarily set aside the stress of the 101 other things they have
on their mind.

Create Spaces That Allow Employees to Control Their

Sensory Stimulation
Think of the sensory triggers that can make work environments feel stressful –
even subconsciously. A ringing phone. The noise from a printer. The constant
buzz and chatter of an office hard at work. The flickering fluorescent lights.
Whatever it may be, these triggers add to an overwhelming mentality that can
often accompany an already stressful work day.

Whether an outdoor area that allows them a breath of fresh air or a lounge
area away from the hustle and bustle of the office, designing areas that allow
employees to control their sensory stimulation means they are able to
disconnect from typical office stressors and take a moment to be mindful,
regroup and refocus.

Create Spaces That Are Calming

A calming space can be as simple as the materials, textures, colors, lighting
and views that it offers. Designing spaces that provide ample natural light can
have a calming effect on the mind. A mix of materials – like wood, “green
walls” and exposed brick – mixed with comforting colours in décor and the
right textiles on furniture can make a designated space into a welcome retreat
within the office.

Mindfulness is a skill that must be practiced, developed and honed over time.
But ultimately, mindfulness in the workplace is about temporarily moving
activity away from the main work point. Designing areas within an office where
employees can escape to for some uninterrupted decompression time can
boost employee morale and benefit a business’ bottom line as a result.