Morale and it's affect in the Workplace

Many of us talk about morale in the workplace, but what is it that we are talking about? 

Per the Random House Webster’s Dictionary (2001), the definition of morale is:

Morale, noun: emotional or mental condition, as of cheerfulness, with respect to work or a duty.

Per the Roget’s II The New Thesaurus (1996), the definition of morale is:

Morale, noun: a strong sense of enthusiasm and dedication to a common goal that unites a group.

Of the two definitions provided, I prefer Roget’s definition.  A workplace is a unity of people working towards a common goal.  Sometimes that goal gets lost during the process.  As most of us in the A/V world know, we are coming down the homestretch of our busiest season.  With this occurrence, everyone has a role to play and multiple balls to juggle.  Once in a while tempers fly and we have to be reminded that we are all working towards a common goal of customer service to the customer and to ourselves. 

There are many moments where we do not think of our actions and how they are perceived by others or how they affect the office environment.  If another coworker hears you flipping out on someone, they may label you as difficult. Most people remember the saying “If you don’t have anything nice to day, then don’t say anything at all” from when we were younger; it helps to try to keep that saying in mind when in the workplace.  Even if you are confiding to our best friend at work the juicy rumor we just heard, we are spreading negativity, and that affects the workplace atmosphere as well.

There are days where I leave my desk totally pissed off, either at myself, a coworker, or a customer, but I remind myself that I do like my job and my coworkers.  Sometimes that reminder comes later in the day, but it does surface.  If we can all take a moment to realize that our actions do affect others positively and negatively, we can work towards improving the morale in our work environments. 

Having a great morale in the workplace makes everyone have a more enjoyable experience.  Turning the morale around won’t happen overnight, and there will always be negative people in the workplace.  Give out more smiles and hellos during the day and most likely you’ll receive them back.  I certainly like to see smiles instead of frowns throughout the hallways at work!