HOW TO

BOOST PRODUCTIVITY
Discover how to create a happier, profitable culture
using the Science of Happiness.
“ Strategy is the thinking,
brand is the talking,
and culture is the doing.
”
JENN LIM
CEO & CO - FOUNDER
Hi, welcome to How to Boost Productivity, an ebook that takes the “best
of” our research on the Science of Happiness, positive psychology, and
our happiness model to give you tangible ways to improve productivity
in your work culture.

During my time at Zappos, Tony Hsieh (DH co-founder and Zappos CEO)
and I started reading books on positive psychology without knowing we’d
geek out on them! All of a sudden those questions I had about life and its
meaning had real, scientific answers to them. Once we started applying
this research to our own lives, we saw how it could also apply to business.

In this ebook, I’ll be breaking down how the three levers of happiness —
progress, control, and connectedness — can help redirect your culture
to be more profitable and sustainable over time. I’ll also be giving you
some exercises and tips to bring back to your teams. I’d love to hear how
they work for you and your company.

™
Let’s Make Happy Work!!

Jenn Lim
CEO & Co-founder
Delivering Happiness
 in
this
book
01 INDEX

02 PROGRESS

05 CONTROL

08 CONNECTEDNESS

12 NEXT STEPS

1 I How to Boost Productivity

sense
of
progress
GROWTH

MOVING FORWARD

FEELING ‘UNSTUCK’

We’re here to talk about your wins. Whether you recognize

it or not, you achieve wins every day. Big or small – these achievements are
like stepping stones laid down to create and direct your path of progress. In
business, a lack of progress results in employees who feel unmotivated and
stagnant in their jobs. Some indicators include high turnover, quicker burnout,
and complaints about the lack of growth or career opportunities.

Let’s be honest — outside of needing to give your employees a fair and

competitive wage, money is not going to motivate them to do their best in the
long run. There’s a better way to do it through progress.

How to Boost Productivity I 2

 of millennials say
opportunities to

59 learn and grow

are extremely
59%

% important to
them when
looking for a job.

ONLY 1
out of 5
employees say their
performance is managed in a
way that motivates them to do
outstanding work.

Does more money create

happier employees?
A meta-analysis of
15,000 individuals
found that the correlation between
salary and job satisfaction is
very weak.

3 I How to Boost Productivity

CEL E B RATIN G
YOUR SENSE OF PROGRESS

Over time, we remember our lives based on

milestones or moments that matter.
Let’s look at how you mark your wins.

List three wins you had List two wins you had List one win
this year: this month: you had today:

Reflect:
Did you celebrate all of these wins? If not, why? If you did, how did it make you feel?

TAKE I T TO
THE T E A M : SPEED-CELEBRATING LIL’ WINS
1. Bring sticky notes to your next meeting, and ask your team to write wins on them.
2. Set a timer (10-15 secs per person) and have people go around and share as many wins
as they can before the time runs out.
3. Applaud, cheer, and celebrate each win! Then continue on with your agenda.

Reflect:
How did the tone of meeting change afterwards? What about the energy?

How to Boost Productivity I 4

 sense
of
control
AUTONOMY

FREEDOM

INDEPENDENCE

To scale successfully, leadership teams have to give more

autonomy to their employees. When you have purpose and core values at
the foundation of your culture, trusting your teams to make the best decisions
for your business comes easier. When everyone is aligned on what solutions
are best in accordance with the culture and business strategy, your company
becomes a vehicle that always moves in the right direction.

The opposite is micromanagement and it doesn’t allow for our sense of control
to thrive. Even as you continue to grow as a leader, you may still remember
past bosses who have micromanaged you before. Your employees want to
feel trusted to get the job done - so let’s work to build that trust.

5 I How to Boost Productivity

 People are nearly
2.5x more likely
to take a job with more

autonomy than to take a job

with more
influence

Employees with flexible

work options are more
likely to have less stress
and better mental health.

How to Boost Productivity I 6

 YOU R
SUPERPOWER MINDSE T
For the situations below, list one mindset you had for each:
1. Think about a time a mindset has saved you or helped you pull it together in a
challenging situation.
2. Think about the advice you would give yourself on what mindset to take when you’re
outside your comfort zone.
3. Think of a difficult situation like giving negative feedback to colleague and list what
mindset helped you do it well.

Examples: Curiosity, Gratitude, Courage, Playfulness, etc.

1. 2. 3.

Pick just one you’d like to master; list your superpower mindset here:

Go back to a time when you were in this mindset:

What activity were you doing?
What does it feel like?
What is one ritual you can do to start your day with this mindset, or to set an intention to
embody this mindset?

How can you call upon this mindset during times you are overwhelmed?

TAK E I T TO T HE T E A M
Go through the ‘Superpower Mindset’ exercise with your team, and start by walking them
through your completed exercise. After the exercise, work together to create a list of what
makes the team feel in control at work. Have everyone share at least one way they feel
more control.

Discuss:
• What are some ways you already have a good sense of control at work?
• Share and agree on 3 ways as a team we could improve sense of control.
• What would the impact be?

7 I How to Boost Productivity

sense
of
connectedness
RELATIONSHIP

COMMUNITY

VULNERABILITY

Our community lives or dies by the way we interact with one

another. As part of our frameworks, we help develop ways for companies to
create more personal, emotional connections (PECs) in the workplace. In DH
the book, Tony emphasized that at Zappos, people were hired based on both
culture fit and skill fit - whether they can do the job but also thrive in their
company culture. This creates employee experiences that ripple into the way
we treat customers, stakeholders, and partners.

If employees are expected to go above-and-beyond in their jobs, they also

need to do that for one another. It’s not just about company perks like happy
hours and ping-pong tables, it’s about doing the work to foster PECs every day.

How to Boost Productivity I 8

 If 6 in 10 employees
had a best friend at work,

organizations could realize

.
Reference: Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2017 Report

Psychological safety
noun
A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with
ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.

Google research showed it was a top contributing factor in successful teams.

The probability of living longer is

30% higher
for people with good social relationships.
100

9 I How to Boost Productivity

 M OM E N TS
THAT
M ATTE R
It’s easy to fall into a routine
dynamic with other people (family,
friends, strangers, etc.), but what
makes certain moments
stand out?

Describe times when you had a

moment that broke the script in a
meaningful way:

A moment with a family member:

A moment with a friend:

A moment with a stranger:

List three adjectives or emotions that these moments shared:

1. 2. 3.

Reflect:
• Did your perspective of this person change after sharing these moments?
• What would your relationships look like if you had more moments of connectedness?

How to Boost Productivity I 10

 TAK E I T TO
T H E T E A M: THE PEC WALK
At your next team meeting, assign two people together and a number from 1-5 [different pairs
can have the same number]. Before the next meeting, each pair has meet to go for a 20-30
min walk or have a chat over coffee.

When you find out when they’re meeting, send them the corresponding question right before
[the day before is fine too]:

Questions:
1. Who has been the greatest influence in your life?
2. Share a crossroads moment in your life when you had to choose one path.
3. What is an adversity you faced that you are actually grateful for?
4. What is one of the most inspiring moments in your life?
5. What do you wake up for every morning?

BONUS: do this a few times with different pairs before the next meeting!

Discuss Together:
• How did it FEEL to connect on a personal level? Did you want to do it at first?

• Has anything changed about your approach to work? To team collaboration?

• List three ideas to encourage more depth of connection at work:

1.
2.
3.

11 I How to Boost Productivity

 Next Steps:
Move Your Culture Forward
Thanks for reading our ebook, I hope you and your teams liked
it! If you’re ready to create a happier and more productive
company culture, contact us for a DH Masterclass.

Our Masterclass is a 2-3 day training for leadership and culture

teams that tie in the “best of” lessons from our 15+ years
of experience in the culture space.

Discover if a Masterclass is right for your company:

DH is a coachsultancy working on creating sustainable cultures to drive business objectives and

profits. To date, we’ve worked with over 350 companies and organization around the world including:

CONTACT US I CULTURE@DELIVERINGHAPPINESS.COM
Let ‘s keep in touch !
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