How To Get Along With Coworkers by Todd Demorest

By: Todd Demorest, CFO and expert facilitator at Odyssey Teams

You Don’t Pick Your Co-workers

Unless you’re the hiring manager, you most certainly did not choose your co-workers. And yet, you spend more time with them than your family (about 90,000 hours over the course of your career), so it’s not only practical but a wise business move to figure out how to get along with coworkers.

We can only hope the company we work for has done a good job screening and hiring motivated professionals. But what we can do, is remember that positive energy makes for more positive energy and helping others feels good.

It’s All About The Mood

“You can’t do anything good on top of a lousy mood, well maybe good – but not great.”

-Todd Demorest

Moods are contagious. They permeate throughout an organization via one person at a time. Quickly followed by entire teams, business units, and onward. As a member of the team, it is your job to manage your mood. You need to be aware if your mood is adding to or taking away from what is ultimately possible for the team.

Being accountable for your mood requires an awareness and willingness to check in and ask yourself, “Am I in an unproductive mood of uncertainty, resignation, being overwhelmed or feeling resentful?” If so, there are three major ways to shift a mood.

Three Easy Ways To Shift Your Mood

The next time you notice your mood is affecting your work, try one or all of these three tactics:

1) Move your body

Take some deep breaths, stretch, wiggle your toes, blink your eyes, get some exercise. Moving your body, even for just a few minutes, can dramatically help squelch a bad mood. This is really easy to do and it is super effective.

2) Change your state

Don’t be afraid to go outside, play some upbeat music, do something different that you enjoy doing. If anyone gives you a hard time for taking time for yourself, you can tell them that Todd Demorest told you to do it.

3) Switch your story

Change the channel on that ‘little voice inside your head’ to reflect all of the many good things that make up you (the way you contribute to others, for example). And then focus on what you appreciate in your working life and the things you are grateful for at your place of work. This is by far the hardest of the three tactics, but it also works and is worth practicing so that one day you can do it with ease.

Moods Are Contagious

Others on your team may be stuck in an unproductive mood and could use support in shifting it. I bet they’d be grateful for you efforts in helping them get un-stuck, and moving the team towards world-class productivity and engagement too.

Todd Demorest is an experiential keynote speaker at Odyssey Teams and has been sharing his wisdom with companies worldwide for over twenty years. His philosophy is that even if life is challenging, it has a brilliance that must be celebrated. He has seen it all and talks straight about life, work, and business to some of the best. More on Todd Demorest.

If you’d like to bring Todd Demorest to your next offsite or corporate meeting, give Odyssey Teams a call at 800) 342-1650 or send us a quick email.

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Are Your Co-workers Making You Moody? // How To Get Along With Co-workers

You Don’t Pick Your Co-workers

It’s All About The Mood