Mindfulness at work: what are its benefits?

Mindfulness is a philosophy of life that endows people with greater well-being and a much more adaptive and productive way of behaving; That is why it has become fashionable in these times.

And it is that today we live in this busy world almost without stopping a single moment to live the present moment, or to connect with ourselves. We spend the entire day ruminating and judging ourselves negatively when things don't go our way (whether or not our beliefs are realistic). We live on automatic pilot and this affects our happiness.

In this article we will focus on Mindfulness and what are its benefits in the work environment.

• Related article: "8 Mindfulness activities to improve emotional health"

Mindfulness in the workplace

Those who are familiar with Psychology no longer find it strange to hear about Mindfulness, and it is that this is one of the important paradigms of recent times in behavioral science (although its origin is ancestral). Mindfulness or Mindfulness is applied in many areas: school, psychological therapy consultations (mainly with the MBSR or the

MBCT), in the world of sports and also in the workplace.

Research makes it clear that Mindfulness brings benefits at the individual level (which you can see in the article “Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness”), But does it also work for companies? Obviously yes. Well, the practice of mindfulness benefits the human capital of a company and its well-being, and therefore its productivity and the performance of its workers.

Now, what are the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace? Below you can find the answer to this question.

1. Improves leadership ability

Mindfulness is positive for middle and senior positions in a company because it helps them to be more aware, more emotionally intelligent, helps them to relate better with subordinates, to inspire a shared vision and to enjoy greater self-confidence.

Here's what A.D. Amar and colleagues at the University of Westminster, who measured self-perception of leadership of a group of senior managers in the London area before and after having attended a Mindfulness program for 12 weeks.

2. Improve employee well-being

The well-being of employees is closely related to the success of the company. In other words, if workers feel happier and enjoy greater satisfaction in the organization they are in, they perform more.

There are many investigations that have found that Mindfulness improves employee well-being because it helps them to have a more positive attitude towards problems and helps them resolve internal and external conflicts.

3. Reduce stress

And is that stress is closely linked to the well-being and satisfaction of workers, and we could say that they are extreme poles. In the work environment, many studies have concluded that the MBSR (Mindfulness based stress reduction program) is extremely effective for reduce anxiety and stress level of workers.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that sought to find out if this program was effective in a group of Workers of the American multinational Dow Chemical Company demonstrated this, as employees became more resistant to stress and improved their satisfaction in the job.

• Related article: "The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)"

4. Improve emotional intelligence

Greater productivity, more sales, better handling of difficult situations, greater self-knowledge, better communication or better customer services are some of the benefits that Emotional Intelligence contributes to the field of work and organizations. Well, Mindfulness has been shown to improve emotional intelligence and, therefore, provides all these benefits.

• If you want to delve into the positive consequences of emotional intelligence at work you can read this article: "The benefits of emotional intelligence at work”

5. Improves concentration and attention span

Several researchers have found that mindfulness training can help increase attention span and concentration. This is what appears in the conclusions of a study led by Amishi Jha, Professor of Psychology and Director of Contemplative Neuroscience at the University of Miami. These conclusions were drawn after applying a Mindfulness program for eight weeks to a group of students.

6. Improve memory

The previous study also found that Mindfulness improves memory, and other research carried out in 2013 by the University of California at Santa Barbara found that a two-week mindfulness course improved the scores of a group of students in college and university. increased its work memorythrough reduced distraction and intrusive thoughts.

7. Improve communication

Mindfulness practice improves communication skills such as active listening. There are many studies that have proven it and according to Javier Garcia Campayo, director of the Master in Mindfulness at the University of Zaragoza, “Mindfulness improves communication internal in organizations because it helps us to be more aware and to express ourselves in a more efficient".

8. Improve relationships with co-workers

Mindfulness helps us to be focused on the present moment with a non-judgmental mentality, This means that we interact better with other people and improve communication with them. Mindfulness helps reduce the frequency of conflicts and favors group cohesion, so necessary for teamwork.

9. Enhance creativity

"Mindfulness is not only useful to improve well-being, because thanks to meditation we can be more relaxed, with calm mind, which helps to create a space to generate new ideas ", affirms the psychologist Aron Alma, expert in Team Building in the Human Resources consulting TeamLogics.

10. Improve productivity

All these previous benefits make companies perform more and better, because when human capital is happy with the workplace where you are and the company you are in, the company notices it. Betting on workers is betting on organization.

Mindfulness for companies: Psicotools, experts in team building

If you want your company to have specialized training in Mindfulness to be able to experiment in first hand the benefits and effects of Mindfulness, or that your team improve their wellness, Psychotools Barcelona is the most recognized center in Spain. Thanks to this, you will be able to delve into the most common Mindfulness-based meditation techniques, so that you and your team can improve your attention span and emotional balance.

These Mindfulness trainings and sessions are directed by Ferran García de Palau García-Faria, one of the professionals with the longest experience and recognition in Europe.

• If you want more information, you can do click on this link.