As the saying goes, a healthy body equals a healthy mind. Being active helps in improving your endurance, your overall well-being and even your mental fitness. Working on your body also improves your mind, but does it help to boost your morale at work?
Research has shown that people who participate in physical activities, sports, and even yoga are inclined to have a more positive mood when at work. They could also handle stress better than their less active colleagues. So what’s the deal with being active?
Sports Can Contribute to a Better Mood
Any activity gives the body an adrenaline rush, and whenever that happens, the body produces more hormones that make you feel positive and happy. Even team games in the workplace showed that interpersonal communications improved for at least 12 weeks. Employees who participated were more supportive and improved company culture.
Another study in the United Kingdom showed there was a significant improvement in the motivation and productivity of its employees who engaged in sports. The majority of men said that their success in sports had a positive impact on how they approach work, while more than half of women said the same.
These studies revealed that sports affects employee performance, but how could companies and businesses make the workplace more conducive for activity?
Start a Company Sports Event
If your company has several teams or departments, start a company sports event that would require everyone’s participation. Include sports that could be less physically demanding to the ones that require skills. This would ensure that most employees will participate. If you still have people who can’t join a team sport, encourage them to join a cheering squad or simply watch the event. Research has shown that people who watch sports or any competition could also feel a significant boost in their morale when their team wins. So go out and start recruiting!
Build a Games Area
If you have a small team, you could build a games area where people could play table tennis or foosball. If you have the budget, why not buy games like Dance Revolution or other fitness games on consoles such as Playstation or Xbox 360?
Or you could place yoga mats, balls, basketball hoops, jumping ropes, punching bags, or even step machines to encourage a more structured approach to fitness and physical activity. If you have a large enough office space, you could place a tennis court installation that could double as a basketball court or aerobics area.
Go Out Together
Encourage small teams to go out together and have a games night. They could have a darts game, visit a bowling alley, or take an outdoor activity such as hiking or fishing. Doing activities out of the office has the added benefit of experiencing and seeing nature, which already boosts morale and lessens anxiety.
Doing these physical activities out of the office creates better bonds between colleagues and enables them to be more supportive and congenial to their co-workers.
Walk to Work and at Work
If group sports and structured physical activities take too much of your time, you could encourage your staff to walk during breaks to stay active. It might not seem much, but walking is one of the best and simplest activities people could do to improve morale. Most people who are trying to solve a problem often walk to get a clearer picture and give a better judgment.
Create spaces that encourage people to walk to certain areas, or get an office on the second floor, so people would have to climb the stairs to get to work. You could also create outdoor “walking areas”, small parks and spaces where they could walk, meditate, read a book, or enjoy nature.
In some offices, they set up a competition to encourage their employees to walk to work. Gadgets such as Fitbits could count the number of steps you’ve taken in a day, so why not use it to encourage people to do a bit of walking every day?
Final Word
Physical activity is vital for everyone to stay healthy, strong, and more youthful. But aside from these obvious benefits, being active affects your attitude, your morale, mood, and productivity at home and at work. If you want a workplace full of positivity, productivity and profit, encouraging your staff to be active is the way to go.
