Paper Bringing Mindfulness To The Workplace
Paper Bringing Mindfulness To The Workplace
Paper Bringing Mindfulness To The Workplace
the Workplace
Introduction
I n todays work world, we face multiple stress inducing demands and pressures as
well as constant connectivity through smart phones, social media, and tablet
computers. We are managing numerous fluctuating priorities, working with increased
expectations, balancing competing demands for our personal and professional goals,
and handling ongoing conflict and ambiguity in complex environments. Consulting
firm AON Hewitt estimates that 35 percent of U.S. employers in 2013 offered stress-
reduction programs to their employees, and that estimate is expected to grow (AON
Hewitt, 2013). HR and talent management professionals are increasingly looking for
ways to reduce employee stress, and many employerslike Google, Aetna, Target,
and General Mills, to name a fewhave found that introducing mindfulness into their
workplace not only lowers employee stress, but improves focus, clarity of thinking,
decision-making, emotional intelligence, and more.
Explains what mindfulness is, and why it can improve employee health and
productivity and a businesss bottom line;
Reviews some of the studies that offer insight into the science behind
mindfulness;
What Mindfulness Is
M indfulness has roots that go back 2,500 years and uses an anchoroften
breathingto center attention and to bring awareness to the present moment
(Stone, 2014). The goal of mindfulness practice is to quiet the minds constant
chatteringthoughts, anxieties, and regrets, writes Frances Weaver for The Week.
Mindfulness practitioners learn to focus on the present in everything they do and to
accept events in the present moment (Weaver, 2014).
The goal of mindfulness is to recognize and accept inner thoughts and feelings. This is
a reflective thought exercise that most people would rather avoid, perhaps because
when we arent multitasking, we tend to think about the things we havent figured out
yet, such as difficult personal and professional challenges, and until there is a
solution, these thoughts dominate. A series of experiments conducted by Timothy
Wilson of the University of Virginia found that the majority of the more than 700 study
participants found it unpleasant to be in a room with just their thoughts for company.
In one experiment, participants were left in a room in which they could press a button
and shock themselves. Sixty-seven percent of the men and 25 percent of the women in
the study opted to shock themselves rather than to sit quietly and think (Williams,
2014). Todays mobile technology world gives people limitless ways to stay busy and
avoid reflective opportunities. Practicing mindfulness can help individuals accept
those inner thoughts and feelings and let them go, thereby lowering their stress and
focusing their attention on the here and now.
Mindfulness also helps nurture imagination and improves mental health, according to
Manfred Ke De Vries, INSEAD distinguished professor of leadership and development
(Williams, 2014). People who practice mindfulness report having improved innovative
thinking, better communication skills, and more appropriate reactions to stress. They
also say that they are better able to handle conflict at work and experience improved
teamwork and team relations (Mindfulnet.org staff, n.d.). In addition, research by
Jochen Reb, an associate professor of organizational development at Singapore
Management University, found that mindfulness can also improve decision-making by
helping clarify objectives and generating options (Karelaia, 2014).
Mindfulness can also help senior leaders improve their focus on their mindsets,
emotional states, and how those two affect how they interact with others. Intentional,
long-term focus helps improve leaders flexibility and adaptability. It also helps them
move beyond their familiar ways of thinking and seeing the world and become open to
new ways of listening, leading, responding, and innovating (Mindfulnet.org, n.d.).
Other research has shown that improving ones mindfulness reduces the levels of
cortisol in the brain, a hormone related to stress. When cortisol levels drop, the mind
calms down and is able to become more focused (Gelles, 2012). Mindfulness can also
lower blood pressure, increase the bodys immune system, and improve emotional
stability and sleep quality (Weaver, 2014).
The Mindful Brain staff offer the following tips on how to increase mindfulness at work.
Be aware. Encourage employees to spend 15 minutes before work each day to sit
and be aware of the sensations of their breath and body. When their minds
wander, teach them to bring their attention back.
Take five. Teach employees to use the STOP sign technique whenever they feel
stressed:
Stop what you are doing.
Proceed.
Do one thing at a time. Teach employees that when their minds wander away, to
bring them back to the here and now.
Take time outs. Encourage employees to take short breaks (1-5 minutes) every 90
to 120 minutes. Remind them to mindfully stretch, breathe, or walk during those
breaks.
Eat lunch somewhere else. Encourage employees to eat their lunches away from
their computer. Teach them to take a couple of breaths and really notice their
hunger levels and the food they are about to eat.
Google says this and other mindfulness programs are good for the company because
they teach emotional intelligence, which helps people better understand their
colleagues motivations. It also boosts resilience to stress and improves mental focus
(Baer, n.d.). Participants of the Search Inside Yourself program agree. They report
being calmer, more patient, and better able to listen. They also say the program
helped them better handle stress and defuse emotions (Kelly 2012).
Healthcare giant Aetna liked the outcome of their study on mindfulness so much they
now offer their mindfulness programs to customers, and more than 3,500 employees
have participated in the programs. In 2010, Aetna developed, launched, and studied
two mindfulness programsViniyoga Stress Reduction and Mindfulness at Workin
collaboration with Duke University, eMindful, and the American Viniyoga Institute. The
goals of the programs were to help reduce stress and to improve how participants
react to stress (Gelles, 2012 and Aetna staff, 2012).
1. Encourage meeting participants to conduct a self-check before the meeting. Instruct all
participants to ask themselves What mental state am I in? By becoming more aware
of their mental state, they can choose the state they want to be in during the meeting.
2. Encourage meeting leaders to conduct a group check-in. Meeting leaders can take five
minutes at the start of every meeting and ask each participant to answer the question,
On a scale of 1 to 10, how present are you right now? This will help participants
reflect on where their attention is and prompt them to be in the present moment.
3. Encourage meeting leaders to always state their intentions. This goes beyond stating
the usual discussion topics. For example, one intention of a meeting may be to give
team members a chance to connect with each other.
4. Encourage meeting leaders to distinguish the meeting parts. Meetings have multiple
parts, and it is helpful for participants to know which part they are in.
5. Teach meeting leaders to always wrap the meeting up. Encourage them to take five
minutes at the end of each meeting to intentionally create clear agreements about
what is going to happen in the future.
General Mills has offered voluntary mindfulness programs to its employees in their
Minneapolis headquarters since 2006 and as of late 2013, has trained 500 employees
and 90 senior leaders. The company offers a four-day retreat for officers and senior
managers, a two-day training program for new managers, and a two-hour class that
meets for seven consecutive weeks that is available to all employees. The company
also offers weekly meditation sessions, yoga classes, and now has a dedicated
meditation room in every building on its campus. General Mills offers these
mindfulness courses to improve employee focus, clarity, and creativity (Hughlett, 2014
and Gelles, 2014).
The programs appear to be having the desired effect. After one of the seven-week
mindfulness courses, participants were surveyed. The survey found that:
83 percent of participants said they were taking time each day to improve their
personal productivity, up from 23 percent before the course.
82 percent of participants said they now made time to eliminate tasks with
limited productivity, up from 32 percent before the course.
Among the seniors who participated, 80 percent said they had experienced a
positive change in their ability to make better decisions. Eighty nine percent of
participating senior leaders said they were better listeners (Gelles, 2012).
Intel began offering its Awake@Intel mindfulness program in 2012 at two of its
locations in Oregon and California. So far, 1,500 employees have participated in 19
sessions, and on average, participants report a two point decrease (on a scale of 1 to
10) in stress and feeling overwhelmed, a three point increase in overall happiness and
well-being, and a two point increase in having new ideas, insights, mental clarity,
creativity, the ability to focus, the quality of relationships at work, and the level of
engagement in meetings, projects, and team effortsall articulated goals of the
program (Wong, 2014).
The program opens with having participants identify what they want to improve
through the program. During the programs first month, participants learn how to
quiet their minds and explore the components of emotional intelligence. During the
last part of the course, participants learn about mindful listening. Intel recently decided
to expand the program and will now make it available to all of its more than 10,000
employees in 63 countries (Wong, 2014).
Conclusion
Our team customizes each leadership program through a highly collaborative process
that involves our clients, program directors, faculty and program managers. We are
dedicated to following-up with our clients and individual participants to ensure that
their learning experiences have been meaningful and impactful. This integrated
approach consistently drives strong outcomes.
Our executive education programs are designed with results in mind, and we are
focused on successfully meeting our clients' business and academic expectations.
Below are a few examples of the results our client partners have achieved:
Participants leave empowered to bring in new ideas, present different ways to grow
business and tackle challenges. The result is stronger individuals leading stronger
teams and organizations.
Contact Us
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