The Feeling of Joy

We have talked about joy and how important it can be to our work teams, but it is a concept that is worth taking a second look. First, does it mean to have joy? Joy is that intense momentary experience of positive emotion. It is the feeling you get when you are so excited want to jump up and down. It is a feeling, expressing, or causing great pleasure and happiness.

Some of you may wondering what joy looks like on a larger level. I bet you have seen the connective power of joy in a sporting event. When a team performs at its best, overcoming its challenges, every player, and the entire arena experiences the joy that lifts the team even further. Success sparks joy. Joy fuels further success. Everyone is caught up in the moment. Who hasn’t been to a game of some kind and were swept up in the crowd and the moment? It is a great feeling if it is YMCA basketball game or NBA championship game.

We want those same joyful feelings at work. Can the joy that is so apparent in athletics or other activities be replicated in work teams? Absolutely.

The Importance of Joy

Here are some things to think about. The most joyful, productive, and engaged staff feel both physically and psychologically safe, appreciate the meaning and purpose of their work, have some choice and control over their time, experience camaraderie with others at work, and perceive their work life to be fair and equitable.

Jessica Perlo, from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, talks about what hospitals can do to build joy on their teams:

• Make sure you have conversations with staff about what matters to them. Not just work things but what are their values and what really matters to them as a person.
• Identify unique impediments. What are the things that can go wrong and how can we fix them.
• Commit to change to a system approach not a silo approach. If it is important to your team chances are it will be important to other team members in the hospital. You can only influence lasting change through a system approach.
• Everyone plays a role and has a voice in bringing joy.

Shifting Your Perspective

I found this quote I like by Amy Weatherly, “Some people could be given an entire field of roses and only see the thorns in it. Others could be given a single weed and only see the wildflower in it. Perception is a key component to gratitude. And gratitude a key component to joy.”

Regardless of what is going on around you, you can feel happier, be productive, attract success and enjoy yourself during the process when you shift your focus and the way you think. Change your perspective to joy and your team may just follow. That’s the view from where we sit.