Clap Along if You Know What Happiness Is to You
How to create a healthy and happy workspace. Three main takeaways from Friday Pulse employee research.
Did you know that people living in Costa Rica are the happiest on earth? This was 12 years ago based on research presented by Nic Marks in his Ted Talk where he talks about The Happy Planet Index.
What has happened since then? Spoiler: 2011 Costa Rica was awarded with the Earthshot Prize for its sustainability and conservation efforts.
Recently, Nic Marks shared some insights about his latest research findings during an online event with Action for Happiness and a session called Happiness is a serious business.
I am a fan of data, stats and how to create a happy workplace. So here are my 3 key takeaways:
1. Four is the magic number
According to a study, managing and interacting with more than 4 people is complex because the size of our conversations is restricted by our “mentalizing constraints,” or the limits on the cognitive demands that we can handle in our interactions with others. Based on that, Nic Marks recommends having breakouts during brainstorming sessions and smaller team and group meetings that are limited to 4 participants.
2. Happiness equals Productivity
Based on many surveys that he has conducted and supported over the years, Nic shared insights around the most common reasons for unhappiness at work and how to overcome these. For example, boredom is statistically a higher cause of unhappiness compared to stress.
He gave an interesting example about happiness in relation to productivity based on research from 1,750 participants who worked at 11 different Call Centre across the UK. They measured their happiness levels weekly over a few months and found that happy employees were more productive and also made 13% more sales.
The details also showed that happier employees made better quality calls and showed enhanced social skills because they were likely to be more focused and engaged in conversation compared to their counterparts. The study also found a clear link between the increase in happiness resulting in an increase in productivity.
3. Your 5-a-day for wellbeing
Back in 2018, Nic created the “5 ways to wellbeing framework” based on the similar example of fruit and vegetable health guidelines in the UK. He wanted to create the equivalent of “5 a day” for wellbeing. Their findings were picked up globally by public health authorities and are now a foundational reference. Since then, he has developed 5 key principles to adapt to a happier workplace:
- Connect: Friendships. Laughter. A sense of belonging.
- Be fair: Flexibility. Fair pay. Space for people’s lives outside work.
- Empower: Trust. Delegate. The opportunity to self-organize.
- Challenge: Stretch. Enjoyment. Setting realistic expectations.
- Inspire: Pride. Purpose. Being part of a bigger picture.
The details about each of these 5 key values are part of the Friday Pulse by Nic Marks.
I have never been to Costa Rica before and I am more and more curious about the people and country after seeing these stats and reports and especially the data about happiness and ecological values and goals. Also, I wonder how to adapt these findings for my project and team work.
Perhaps for the next new project, how about asking: how happy is the team I am working with?
