Learning to be thoughtful

This past spring, the organization where I work went though a tough time financially (as so many other companies) and we ended up losing about 2 dozen employees to a voluntary severance program. Even though the program was voluntary, many of the employees felt sorrow at leaving, and more noticeable afterward the remaining employees were affected.

Employees who stayed still felt vulnerable, missed their coworkers, and had to pick up some extra workload and the stress that comes with it. To help remind me to not let these extra work efforts and difficult emotions go unnoticed, I simply put a tiny post-it note on an inside corner of my desk. On the note I wrote the words "Be Thoughtful." Each day when I see the note (if it's not buried in paperwork) I try to think of some small thing I can do to be thoughtful of those who work around me. Maybe it is sending a thank you note to them for a job well done, or a birthday card, or just making a phone call to find out how they are doing.

I like to think this "be thoughtful" campain is helping. Since I've been doing it for the last month, more employees are stopping by to say hello and I'm starting to see more smiles, joking around (in a good and productive way), and less complaining or whining compared to the last few months. Maybe that is just my own perception, but even it if is - that's still rewarding and will help me to keep looking for small opportunities to make someone else's day a bit brighter.