Five to Thrive Week 2

UMD’s Thriving Workplace Initiative (TWI) is making the University of Maryland a great place to work by providing tools and support to foster engaged, inclusive and empowered faculty and staff across campus.

Each Monday, its “Five to Thrive” list offers five strategies crowdsourced from research, experts and our own UMD community to help your workplace thrive.

Want to build a Thriving Workplace? Here are this week’s tips:

• Late-night “check-in” emails can put pressure on your team. Do your best thinking at night? Consider adding the “Boomerang for Gmail” extension to your email account for easy email scheduling.
   
• Want to be a great communicator? Connect with your audience on an emotional level. If you make them feel inspired, interested, amused and confident, you're more likely to get your message across.
   
• Reply ASAP: Make a habit of promptly addressing meeting invites, conference notices and other requests for your time; doing so will organize your calendar and show your peers they are important.
   
• Find opportunities for your employees to get out of their units and meet with other colleagues, whether on a committee, socially or through a university event. For example, if you are asked to join a finance task force, send your finance person in your place. Allow them an opportunity to make new connections and shine.
   
• Say “Thank you.” An NBC News poll found 70% of participants would forgo a raise for a kinder boss. Expressing gratitude is a simple and powerful way to make someone feel appreciated.

Want more tips? Visit the Thriving Workplace Resource Library here or sign up for Food for Thought Friday, which delivers strategies to your inbox each week. Send an email to thrivingworkplace@umd.edu with the subject listserv to subscribe.