15 Questions to Improve Your Happiness at Work
15 Questions to Improve Your Happiness at Work
June 20, 2011 by Taylor Studios
If you could be blissful at your job would you do the work to get there? At Taylor Studios, we use coaching to help staff be aware of their goals and direction. In a recent Harvardby Edward M. Hallowell, he mentions the key to happiness at work is maximizing the intersection of what you like to do, what you do best and what adds value to the organization. A good fit increases job satisfaction, reduces stress and improves attendance and performance. The author says that job fit ranks with choice of mate in predicting success and well-being.
Answer these 15 questions to see if your job is a good fit:
1. **What are you best at doing?**
2. **What do you like to do the most?**
3. **What do you wish you were better at?**
4. **What talents do you have that you haven’t developed?**
5. **Which of your skills are you most proud of?**
6. **What do others most often say are your greatest strengths?**
7. **What have you gotten better at?**
8. **What can you just not get better at no matter how hard you try?**
9. **What do you most dislike doing?**
10. **Which skills do you need to develop in order to perform your job?**
11. **What sort of people do you work best/worst with?**
12. **What sort of organizational culture brings out the best in you?**
13. **What were you doing when you were happiest in your work life?**
14. **What are your most cherished hopes for you future work life?**
15. **How could your time be better used in your current job to add value to the organization?**
If your answers lead you to determine that your job is not a good fit, work with your boss to find a direction that works for both you and the company. Or consider a career change.
The article goes on to talk about connectivity, play, growing and shining. We have worked to build a culture to encourage all of this. This includes management walking around talking to staff, stand up meetings, company meetings, company get togethers, EQ tests, newsletters, social media, writing down pithy statements, encouraging dancing and so forth. Building connectivity even with trivial silly stuff is key to enjoying your coworkers. Having a group of people you enjoy working with helps make work a happier place and is worth the effort.
Are you happy and excelling at your work? If not, what are you going to do about it?
– Hallowell, Edward M., “What Brain Science Tells Us About How to Excel.” Harvard Business Review (December 2010): 123-129.