Manage your team's energy

From: Dr. June Darling

When I've talked about this to dentists. They feel it's so unfair that they should be the manager of team energy, but here's a good article that may convince you to at least consider your emotions as contagious as work (and everywhere in your life), but especially important to consider if you want energetic, productive workers. j.

 

Manage Your Team's Energy, Not Just the Work

Posted: 13 Aug 2008 11:15 PM CDT

Following is a excerpt from our upcoming book "Profit From the Positive: What Every Business Leader Needs to Know From the New Science of Positive Psychology."

~ Margaret Greenberg (Bio, Articles) and Senia Maymin (Bio, Articles)

Germs and colds aren't the only things we spread in the workplace. Our emotions, both positive and negative, are just as contagious. Have you ever walked into a meeting and felt so much tension that you became tense, too? Conversely, have you ever walked into someone's office and felt so much openness that you started to feel more open and welcoming as well? This spreading of emotions from one person to the next is what psychologists call Social Contagion Theory. Here's how it works.

Human beings are hard-wired to mimic the facial expressions and moods of those we come in contact with. Sigal Barsade, associate management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, claims we can unconsciously "catch" both good and bad moods. And you can "catch" these emotions in a matter of milliseconds according to Elaine Hatfield, psychology professor at the University of Hawaii and co-author of Emotional Contagion.

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed people pictures of both happy and angry faces for a fraction of a second and observed how people reacted. When participants looked at pictures of happy faces, their own facial expressions mirrored the picture – they responded with a smile. Similarly when participants viewed pictures of angry faces, they responded with a frown.

According to Hatfield, incremental muscle movements, like the smile or the frown, actually trigger the brain to feel that emotion. For example, when we feel happy our brain sends us a message: smile. But it works the other way, too. When we see someone else smile our brain sends us another message: smile. This very act of smiling sends another message to our brain, telling us to feel happy. So maybe our mothers were really on to something when they told us to quit mopping around and "put on a happy face."

So what does this have to do with managing your team's energy? Your own emotions have more influence over your team's energy level and subsequent productivity than perhaps you realize.

Carlos arrives at the office at 7:45 sharp every day. Two of his employees, Rachel and Mike, like to get in around 7:00 so they can grab a cup of coffee, catch up on emails, and get ready for the day ahead. Every morning they look up from their desks as Carlos walks in. Rachel and Mike have an inside joke:

"We can tell what kind of day it's going to be around here by Carlos' morning expression. If he smiles and says 'good morning' we know it's going to be a good day, and we can get on with our work. If his head is down and doesn't even acknowledge us, we know it's going to be a bad day and we better be ready to jump at a moment's notice. When our teammates arrive around 8:00, they stop by our desks and ask, 'So what kind of day is it going to be?' and they're not talking about the weather."

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that when business leaders were in a good mood, their team members experienced more positive and fewer negative moods. Additionally, if the boss is in a good mood, the team finds it much easier to accomplish their tasks. Remember if you manage or lead others, your moods are even more contagious! Think of it this way: a manager's negative moods are like spreading a cold, maybe even a flu, in the office. Do you really want people at work feeling lousy and having declining productivity? Or do you want to pay attention to your non-verbal behavior, and be aware of how people "catch" your emotions?

 

June Darling, Ph.D
Executive Coach and Consultant
for Maverick-Minded Professionals
www.summitgroupresources.com
providing the resources to bring out the best in you and your business

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams