What Makes a Happy Workplace…Happy

It’s mid-autumn, yet, at noon the sun is still warm enough so that we can sit on a terrace during lunchtime. At first, it’s just me and, what the social networks call these days, my “work bestie”. To me, the term seems a bit awkward, but I guess one has to keep up with the trends. After all, when you are part of a tech company “updates” and “upgrades” are a must.

Three more colleagues from another department join and the discussion starts flowing. It’s a mixture of work-related talk and common, free-time activities. A few minutes later some more colleagues join, then a few more and in the end, three tables need to be adjoined to fit us all.

Some of us have joined from other cities. We know it’ll take a while until we all meet again, so we try to make the best out of the present moment. Others are missing and being missed because of business trips.

None of us have it all figured out, we are all preoccupied with various aspects of our work and personal lives, but all of us enjoy this moment together to the fullest, and our bursts of laughter regularly interrupt our discussions.

So, there it is – the not-so-secret, secret to what makes a happy workplace, happy – and no, it’s not food, though proper credit must be given to it as well – it’s people socializing in their spare time.

Make no mistake, I am definitely not overlooking Maslow’s pyramid in this equation, in fact, I think he did a pretty good job in pointing out, the primary ‘whys’ that stand behind our motivation to work. Nonetheless, after your primary needs are properly catered for, it’s people and in this case, colleagues, that make the difference.

Having colleagues who have your back no matter what, who you can look up to, learn from, share the same goal with, and work side by side to attain it while also enjoying relaxing, joyful moments together, is priceless and falls under the category “happiness is…”

P.S. On a funny note, specifically for us, tech companies, a happy workplace is also one where no automatic system updates start running before a client meeting.