Five to Thrive Week 3

UMD’s Thriving Workplace Initiative is making the University of Maryland a great place to work by providing tools and support to foster engaged, inclusive and empowered faculty and staff across campus.

Each Monday, its “Five to Thrive” list offers five strategies crowdsourced from research, experts and our own UMD community to help your workplace thrive.

Want to build a Thriving Workplace? Here are this week’s tips:

• Ask the obvious question: “What do you need to do your job well?” Don’t assume an employee will come to you. Ask the people closest to the job.
   
• Know the load. Have an understanding of your team members’ workloads and ensure fair distribution.
   
• Meet in your colleagues’ workspaces—or other venues, like over a cup of coffee—not just on your own turf.
   
• Stop “Phubbing.” Don’t allow the lure of a phone ping to pull you away from your meeting or one-on-one conversation. It undermines trust, self-worth and engagement. Consider putting your phone away during conversations. Out of sight is best.
   
• Make room—and create opportunity—for laughter at work.

Want more tips? Visit the Thriving Workplace Resource Library here or sign up for Food for Thought Friday, which delivers strategies to your inbox each week. Send an email to thrivingworkplace@umd.edu with the subject listserv to subscribe.