Ithuta JV

Source - Article by Bob Andrew

Project Managers don’t normally talk about their team members being happy working on projects. They might say that they always encourage employee satisfaction or job satisfaction, but one wonders whether they understand what this means. Being satisfied is important, no doubt, but does being satisfied make one happy?

Many project management companies have shown that it pays to have happy employees and studies have demonstrated that companies with happy employees consistently outperform their less happy competitors. Considering all the challenges that companies face today, creating a happy organisation should be a strong strategic imperative.

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Being happy at work means more than just being satisfied with your job. It means far more than this; it means really enjoying what you do, feeling proud about your work, knowing that you are recognized for what you do, feeling motivated and energised most of the time and, most importantly, having fun in your work.

Happiness at work is a personal choice; nobody can force you to be happy and you can’t force others to be happy. Happiness is different for everyone; one person’s happiness could be another’s hell. Happiness is not eternal; you can’t be happy all of the time. Happiness is not just fun and games; it goes beyond frivolity. Happiness is not about being ecstatic all the time; a quiet serious person can also be happy.

One of the most important factors that discourage happiness at work is that all most companies want from their employees is their time and for them to do as they are told. For genuine employee happiness, acknowledgement of talent, knowledge and potential is required. Allowing employees to innovate, make their own decisions, continuously improve and manage change rapidly are critical factors in today’s business environment and only happy, motivated, creative and engaged employees can do this. In other words, companies need happy employees.

How do you as a project manager create a workplace where your team can be happy? Since happiness is an internal state of mind, project managers can never be responsible for the happiness of their team. Each person is responsible for their own happiness at work. The role of the project manager is to create a work environment where it is easy for workers to be happy.

Research has shown that there are three basic aspects of workplace happiness: perks, choice and security. Perks relate to fair and reasonable compensation for what you do; choice is about creating an environment in which people who want to be happy can and security relates to safety and knowing that your work is secure and sustainable.
All of the business success factors, like innovation, productivity, customer service, focus, motivation, good working relationships etc., are developed by happy employees, not by technology or business consultants.

If you believe that the only reason for being in business is to make money out of project management, you still need to look after the people who give you the platform for running a project management company, since if you do, you will make more money.

To have a happy team, project managers don’t necessarily have to motivate their team: they have to stop demotivating them!