5 pillars for joyful programs and customers
How much more would you pay to fly with an airline you enjoy vs. one that is just OK?
When businesses bring customers joy, profitability can increase. A teacher who builds positive relationships helps students learn better. When those we serve are joyful, we create a virtuous cycle — increasing employee joy and wellbeing too.
Today’s column shares five simple questions to increase joy, wellbeing, and engagement in our programs and companies. We wrote this for businesses, non-profits, and other organizations — because we all have a role to play in increasing community joy and we all can learn from examples across organizational types. You can replace our word “program” in the questions below with “customer experience”, “church”, “housing community” — whatever is relevant for you.
This is a great tool for focus groups or surveys with customers, clients, and staff. Use it to identify a few simple, impactful actions that can address the greatest needs/ opportunities. Return to these questions periodically to continue your program’s journey to joy.
1) Is our program designed for relationships?
Are our places designed for connection? When my son was a pre-schooler at East Boston Social Centers’ Jeffries Point pre-school, I connected with other parents at the onsite playground where children played after pickup time.
It can be easy — and affordable — to create social spaces; sometimes it happens serendipitously. At the pharmacy my father owned, community members of diverse races, ethnicities, and ages chatted around the copy machine in the front when they picked up Sunday newspapers.
Do our activities support connection? East Boston Social Centers’ Early Learners programs run family field trips, including an annual apple picking adventure, that support connections between parents; between parents and teachers; and between children. Increasing the frequency of your existing activities fosters even stronger relationships.
Do we catalyze relationships around shared identity or purpose? Harley Davidson H.O.G.s and Mini Owner Clubs members meet regularly to share their passion. At the Social Centers, our Parent Partners join together in service activities across our community — having built strong relationships through service here.
2) Does our program foster a sense of purpose?
Can our stakeholders name our purpose? When I worked at Boston Medical Center, I admired then President and CEO Kate Walsh’s strong messaging; every email referred to providing “exceptional care without exception.”
Do we use language of elevated purpose? Do we work with customers and clients, or community and guests? What does our language tell people about their role and our aspiration for them?
Do we help people pursue purpose here? At the Social Centers, we are working to expand volunteer opportunities — so more people can find a place of purpose here.
3) Does our program support fitness and wellbeing?
Does our program offer opportunities for movement and fitness? The Social Centers’ Active Adults program offers chair yoga and line dancing. For a real estate developer, making stairs as accessible and beautiful as the escalators could catalyze more exercise in a building.
Are we making it easier to access nutritious vs. non-nutritious food? This can include the food served at meetings and conferences, the way we present food available for all to take, and the structure/ recommendations for fun events like organization potlucks.
Are we supporting good sleep? When teens start school later, they have improved mental and physical health. On the corporate side, companies can start by taking “sleep” off the list of their competitors.
Do we have partnerships and collaborations to support fitness? At the Social Centers, we are members of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center’s coalition to support child health. We also often refer people to the East Boston YMCA’s great fitness programs.
4) Do our programs support contemplation?
Programs and businesses can set aside spaces or time and provide training, coaching or support to foster mindfulness, contemplation, and pauses in the day.
MyBliss developed a Joyful Eastie app for the Social Centers; their apps support meditation.
We also have partnered with Create’s CARE program to bring mindfulness and self-compassion training to our teachers and IdeaLift to bring mindfulness, journaling, and more to program leaders across our community via Search Inside Yourself. We look forward to more partnership with Ivy Child International for mindfulness education in our children’s programs.
5) Are our programs fun?
From my office, I hear the laughter of children in our Bright Minds School Age program, and sometimes see a smiling child run toward my office to retrieve a ball that has rolled down the hall. Our Thriving Teens program makes science learning fun with project-based learning about attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials.
By incorporating fun and play into their brand identity, many corporations strengthen their appeal.
Conclusion
This simple tool provides a framework for planning to foster more joy in programs, for customers, and for other stakeholders. This can lead to more mission-aligned work and more business success. It also can help us all live into purpose and build a more joyful world.
Please share your ideas and reflections here. How can we all build more joyful programs (and communities) together?
This is the third of four columns providing simple, powerful tools to drive increased joy. The first column focused on individual joy; the second on joy at work; this one on joy in programs; and part four will focus on community joy.
This is also the twelfth of a series of posts about increasing joy in community: the only way we can significantly increase joy. Whether you’re seeking the best ways to increase your joy; working to make your community the next Denmark; seeking to save democracy; or just a friend who is reading along, this column is for you. If you like it, please share this work. To join our movement, please send me an email or consider supporting East Boston Social Centers: https://www.ebsocialcenters.org/support
