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The Effect of Mood on Work Performance

Written by: Ksenija Rostova

Article Overview: American scientists have finally proved a widespread opinion that nothing effects the productivity of our work more then mood.

The Effect of Mood on Work Performance

Nancy Rothbard from Warton University of Pennsylvania and Stephanie Wilk from Fischer College of Business in Ohaio investigated the work of call-center employees from different US states. During 3 weeks Rothbard and Wilk were studying their behaviour and changes in mood depending on the situation at workplace. The experiment clearly showed that nothing effects quality of work more then a mood. Employees who were starting their day on optimistic note were much more attentive to clients and needed less coffee breaks during the working day. On the other hand employees who come to work in upset mood have less contacts with clients and are less responsive. Actually I never even doubted that personal and team mindset has strong effect: goal-oriented and optimistic people inspire colleagues and show great results. At the same time if you „wake up on the wrong side of the desk" it's really hard to set yourself up to work. In this case it's extremely important to brace up, set right priorities and reach your targets. Otherwise any deficiency in work, any little problem will let you down and thus form a vicious circle. An employee who gets bored with routine is much more likely to notice each and every drawback in his work and to get completely disappointed in it.

Quiet often employees' mood is in tight connection to manager's personality, charisma and ability to inspire the team. Mood and will to work do not always depend on material things. If a manager doesn't use non material factors to motivate subordinates, then he shouldn't expect them to work properly even having decent salaries. Success is guaranteed if manager sets clear, attainable goals and shows sincere gratitude to employees for their positive achievements.

The other side of this question is an inspiration. When you apply for new job you feel simply elated and during first few months this inspiration helps you to overcome all the difficulties that may arise. If you have chosen the right job then this initial inspiration should slowly transform in a much deeper feeling - passion for work. Psychologists say that one has to be honest with himself and start searching for new work as soon as this passion disappears. Unfortunately it's not always possible due to multiple reasons and sometimes you just have to switch your attention to other positive moments that can be found in any job.

To sum up I would like to repeat that experiments clearly proved that start-of-day mood is a determinant of employee performance. Every manager has to consider it his duty to take special care about team's mindset that assures good work results.

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Article Tags: employee motivation, tips for entrepreneurs, work productivity



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Try wikipedia.com for more information - That depends what type of business you are involved in. Maybe if you share that, we can help you a little better. I work mostly in the Work at Home industry so my advice would only be along those lines.
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