Creating a positive work culture for your entire team will allow you to get the most out of them. This is because they’ll feel encouraged, accepted, and happy. When they feel this way they’re motivated to perform better. Although this is a great formula, it does require that you invest some time. Of course, as a manager, it’s your job to nurture your employees in this way. As such, you should know how to do this.

Believe in Those Around You

Acting in this way will help show the people around you that you really do care about them. This doesn’t mean that you want to “baby” your employees – they’re mature, fully functioning adults. Allow them to act as such by believing that freedom and responsibility are central to their positions within your company. Inc. suggests that autonomy in making decisions and accomplishing work is important here. They believe that people will rise to the level of expectations you establish for them.

Show up and get Involved

These aren’t things you can do from afar. Instead, Top Resume says you must:

Woody Allen says, “80% of life is just showing up.” This is also true for work. Of course, this means more than just being physically present. It means being present mentally so you can help others when possible.

Have fun and encourage others to do the same. Community activities like dress up days and desk decorating contests help everyone feel happier. It’s also an opportunity to build your personal brand by leading by example. This is because you’ll stand out since you’re not simply “joining in.”

Offer positive reinforcement by saying things like “I appreciate the way you,” “I’m impressed with,” “I really enjoy working with you because,” “I admire the way you take the time to,” “You’re really good at,” and “Your team couldn’t be successful without you.” These are great ways of showing your gratitude for something they didn’t even expect. Good reminds us that we need to be specific in these ways and at specific times. For instance, you should say these things in front of other people or even at a group meeting, then encourage others to share similar things.

Smile and say “Hi” to the people around you. Don’t fake it, they’ll recognize it. Be genuine instead.

Keep motivational posters, pictures, and quotes on your desk. Make sure others can see them when they walk into your office. This will help encourage positive thinking. You can even post these throughout the office anonymously to get the same effect.

Celebrate project milestones, birthdays, even a new house with other team members. Whether you mention this at the beginning of a meeting or you pass around a card for others to sign, it will mean something great for the recipient.

Engage in random acts of kindness. By doing something nice for another person who wouldn’t expect it you’ll brighten their day. This can be as simple as offering them help or asking how their night or weekend was.

Be an Engaged Leader

You can probably already tell that this starts with taking your job as a leader seriously. However, you should know that you don’t even have to have the title of a leader. Instead, you simply need to evoke change from whatever position you have. This doesn’t have to be earth-shattering change as long as you’re making someone’s experience at work better.

In fact, it could be as simple as befriending someone to eat lunch with or telling someone they’ve done a great job, it helps generate team spirit and strengthen your company’s culture. Not only does this make the people around you feel better about the work they’re doing, it also makes you the type of person that everyone wants as a part of their team.

This isn’t something you can be passive about though. You need to engage in meaningful dialogue with them either in person or through web conferencing. In doing so you’re showing people that you care about them. It’s easy to send them a quick message but getting to know these employees better takes more of a concerted effort. Getting to know their goals, interests, and career objectives.

These are things that really aren’t part of the “typical” company culture today, which is why most employees feel unappreciated. However, just a small complement is invaluable and can give our work a real sense of purpose. This even works with just a simple “Thank you.”

Another great way of showing your employees that you really do value them is simply by listening to their ideas. Whether you realize it or not, there’s not a person on your team who doesn’t have a great idea to share with you. After all, they’re the ones who are doing the work in the trenches so they have experiences and perspectives to share with you.

When your team brings you their ideas it’s tempting to stick to protocol because you feel like you know what works best, however, there’s one thing you must remember: Status quo doesn’t last for long today because the world moves way too fast for that. So, Liquid Planner says you really need to listen to new ideas so your team members understand that they’re valuable and that you trust them. Some of the suggestions you may want to pay heed to include:

• Suggesting when and if meetings should happen

• Anticipating roadblocks and talking to your team about them

• Assuming that your team wants your project to succeed

• Discussing any negativity regarding office policy

None of this is easy but you need to remember that your team is full of adults who can take responsibility and act incompetent ways. In other words, you don’t need to treat them like children unless you want them to act like children. Instead, delegate, let go and let the person do the work.

It’s important to understand the role our emotions play in all of this. Negative emotions fester, grow, and spread while positive emotions shine brightly as people will want to be around us. By choosing to act in a positive way towards your work environment you’ll be happier. This alone should be well worth the effort you’ll exert here.