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In the January 2012 edition of OnTrack, our e-newsletter, we asked you to try this exercise :

Step 1 : Imagine a business you love going in to. They’ve got mojo. The place has a happy buzz. It makes you happy to be in there. Describe, in a sentence or two, what was happening around you and what it felt like to be there.

Step 2 : Now imagine a business or organization that is as blah as it gets. We’ve all been to those places. You can’t wait to leave, right? Describe, in a sentence or two, what was happening around you and what it felt like to be there.

Step 3 :  Now for each business, write a sentence or two to describe what you think :

• The leadership is like in that business
• A new staff member feels like when they come to work?

Step 4 : Now imagine this – if you were a new manager in Business Blah, what three things could you do to make it feel more like Business Buzz?

Step 5 : Can you pick one of those three things to do in your business within the next hour? Bet you can!

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We asked folks all over Zingerman’s, in various businesses and at various levels of the organization to send us their answers to Step 4. Listed below is the outpouring of responses we got :

Kerry Sheldon, ZingTrain, Seminar Logistics

• Get up, go find the nearest person, and tell them a hilarious story about something embarrassing you’ve done; ask them to reciprocate.  Loosening up and getting out of the moment gets the energy flowing. Laughter attracts co-workers like nothing else, and soon you have a critical mass.
• Dash to the lobby and pull your best Ari Gold impression, yelling, “I’m leaving and setting up my own firm – who’s comin’ with me?!”  When the boss arrives and looks at you quizzically, say, “just kidding.  But just for the sake of argument, what would it look like if we did?”  And then figure out how to do that, because the firm you’d go set up would undoubtedly be better than your current firm – otherwise, what’s the point?  (Kind of mini-visioning, if you will.  With a twist.)
• Get up and move.  Stretch and breathe and do deep bends at the waist and knees.  Swing your arms around and move your jaw widely, grotesquely. Get outside, no matter the weather.  Go for a run.  Take a buddy.  Get a coffee or tea on the way back.  Write left-handed on a pad of paper until you can do your name legibly.  (In other words, recruit different muscles – and synapses – and then dose yourself with a bolus of oxygen and a little caffeine. Works every. Single. Time.)

Jenny Tubbs, DSE and Zingerman’s Press

• help out 3 people
• compliment the work of 3 people
• sing loud for all to hear
• smile and make eye contact with everyone on the floor who’s within 10 feet of you. greet all those within 4.
• model the energy you’d like to see for the shift
• ask folks on shift how you can help make their shift better. don’t laugh at their requests
• smoothies for everyone

Josh Horwitz, Zingerman’s Deli, Sandwich Sales and Service

• Engage a game using all employees interacting with each other
• Ask everyone what they would rate their current energy at (in my experience, mindfulness immediately raises energy)
• Bring around a drink or snack and thank people for working hard

Allen Leibowitz, Zingerman’s Coffee Company, Managing Partner

• Read 101 Ideas to Kick Your Ass Into Gear by Ann Arbor authors Ian Gray and Nicklaus Suino
• Stir some stuff [sic!] up – if it was retail – redo the display or music.  If it was an office, redo some furniture or seating, or lighting.
• Since the energy often stems from the people, ask the people that are working there what would help them have more positive energy.
• Dogs-at-work.

 Abigail Van Bremen, Zingerman’s Deli, Retail

• If someone had a noticeable blah I would request that they sing a few lines of their favorite song audibly. Understandably there may be some shy people so they could also elect to excuse themselves for about a minute to privately sing in a restroom with better acoustics.
• Give a specific complement to an employee about an aspect of one’s work performance. I’ve seen this in action before and it can work wonders.

Stas’ Kazmierski, ZingTrain, Managing Partner

• Really and truly i would channel my wife Kathleen and I’d tell each staff person that I wanted them to go out in the street and bring in three people (hell, make it ten) to taste our food, have a desert, free coffee tasting and find out one thing about them.
• I’d ask the staff to tell each other, in a group, the most energizing secret they know.
• I’d give each person a bottle of energy drink.

 Anya Pomykala, Zingerman’s Coffee Company, Manager

• Join the work and offer to help with the icky tasks
• Buy lunch for the staff.
• Encourage open forum idea time
• Spend time with your staff
• Switch up the norm with different music

Pat McGraw, Zingerman’s Department For People (HR), Manager

• Walk around the whole building saying good morning to each person.
• Work in a regular job – staff loves to teach leaders what they do.
• Appreciate a few staff in the moment.

Joanie Hales, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Manager

• Change my own energy to be what I wanted the company’s energy to be.
• Ask my employees in the moment what we could do to increase energy.
• Post a vision on what the company looks like with positive energy.

Maggie Bayless, ZingTrain, Managing Partner

• Put on some upbeat music.
• Engage the staff in some sort of group project  – like a 3 minute brainstorm or rebuilding a display.

Josh Miner, Zingerman’s Creamery, Gelato Maker Extraordinaire

• Buy everyone an americano.  Nothing like buzzing about high on espresso.
• Inquire about the collective mental health.  I always like a good game of group-depricating humor.
• Act out.
• Skip through singing the Smurf song.
• But seriously, don’t underestimate the power of espresso.

Valerie Neff-Rasmussen, Zingerman’s Mail Order

• Thank/appreciate someone.
• Ask someone who seems low if there’s anything I can do to help improve their day.

Dana Laidlaw, Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Bakeshop

• Positive encouragement and random hi-fives help.
• Positive, upbeat music that everyone likes helps.
• Impromptu ‘dance parties’ help.
• Having a nice, clean, pleasant place to work helps.
• Smile. Use the 10/4 rule.
• Use the 3 steps to great service.
• Great smells from great food always helps

Tabitha Mason, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Manager

• Acknowledge there is a problem!  Tell staff, “Hey, the vibe on the floor is pretty low right now.  What’s going on?”
• Check my own energy level.  Many times, the energy staff puts out is a reflection of the energy they take in.  I would honestly evaluate my performance and my attitude to see what role I may be playing in the “blah”.
• Commit to improvement.  Brainstorm for ideas with staff.  Read a good book or two (heck, even an article or two).  Make a change, big or small, and stick to it.  Building an environment of greatness will energize people who want to be great and naturally force out those who prefer to keep their problems.

Rick Strutz, Zingerman’s Deli, Managing Partner

• Ask everyone what would make their shift better. Then do it.
• Sit down with staff and ask them, sincerely and with intention, what their challenges are with their workplace. Make and communicate plans to fix things.
• Focus on fun and laughter!
• Huddle!

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Heard an idea that was in Zing-speak? Email me at gauri at zingermans.com with questions!

Thanks for reading!