absence rates and an ‘improved ability to take on new tasks and learn new things.’ It is no wonder then, that the business world is interested in incorporating mindfulness techniques on a grander scale. How does Mindfulness Work? At its most basic level, mindfulness is very effective at reducing stress. Anything that reduces stress makes for a better work environment. But mindfulness can achieve more than that. At the 2014 Cranfield University’s Mindfulness at Work seminar, Jeremy Hunter, an academic and mindfulness consultant, said that mindfulness programmes can make for more resilient employees and more ethical leaders, and that a resilient workforce is necessary to build a flexible, resilient and successful business. Mark Williams of Oxford University who founded the practice of MBCT, said this discovery of greater empathy, compassion and more ethical behaviour, is a logical outgrowth of mindfulness training. In MBCT, people learn from the ground up to be more aware of feelings of anger and negativity, and the damage they do to their own selves, mentally and physically. So, naturally, they become less likely to be negative towards others. The business world is becoming far more project and task oriented. A recent study of the impact of mindfulness training on IT workers found that mindfulness can make you better at ‘serial-tasking.’ The researchers concluded that mindfulness helped those in the study to ‘concentrate more deeply and to switch focus between objects of attention more fluidly’. Other researchers have found that mindfulness improves your brain’s ‘plasticity,’ that it actually increases the density of grey matter in the regions of your brain linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy. Mindfulness Techniques What are the techniques of mindfulness? They do vary, and there are specific exercises more tailored to the workplace, but what they all have in common are breathing techniques, and ways to become more aware of your physical and emotional sensations. One common technique is the ‘raisin exercise.’ This simple exercise introduces you to the concept with food, and slowly using all of your senses, to really ‘experience’ it. The idea is to use all of your senses to observe the raisin in great detail, from the way it feels in your hand to the way its taste bursts on your tongue. This exercise is intended to help you focus on the present moment, and it can be done with many foods from raisins, to apples, to jelly beans. There are some who argue that the very idea of mindfulness in the workplace goes against its origins that were rooted in more spiritual and less materialistic ideals. However, on the other hand, there are those who would say that any mindfulness exercise is a good one. Becoming more aware of yourself, your surroundings, your feelings and actions towards others, is putting you on a path to a more mindful existence; and that can have positive improvements on your life, whether you are introduced to the techniques in a fitness room, or a conference room. f
Authentic Content = Business Success! by Lauren O’Connor We all have one goal; we want the attention of consumers. As an end result, this is easy to ascertain but what you need to discern is whether your business is worthy of the attention you desire. Every business owner thinks they have something unique and special to say about their business, so the question is how do you plan to compete with that? Through the creation of an authentic and genuine content strategy, you can permeate your target audience with your desired branding message. Some tried and true techniques to help you accomplish this are: • Don’t tell your customers that they need your service/ product, show them. Take them on a journey which will lead them to make the discovery that yes, you are what they have been looking for. Human behaviour inherently means that if you tell someone to do something, they won’t want to do it, but if they come to the realisation on their own, then they own the decision. • Good content doesn’t just answer questions, it gets people thinking and asking even more questions. It raises awareness of the value of your service/product and the customers’ resolve to have/need it. If your content can stir conversation, then it’s doing its job. It means it’s revolving around the customer. Always remember, content without direction will not help you with your return on investment. Invest in a strategic content plan, follow it and reap the rewards.
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BUSINESS MATTERS 7
