Be Kind Be Well

Resources and Research for Enhancing Gratitude and Kindness in the Workplace

Print and Post a Be Kind Be Well Flier

Help spread the message of kindness by downloading these PDF fliers and posting them in your workplace. There are five versions. Pick your favorite or post all of them!

Good morning!

I will be kind.

Knock. Knock.

We are "the team, the team, the team!"

Thank you!
Take the Be Kind Be Well Pledge
Print and post this Be Kind Be Well pledge to give you a visual reminder.

Post your certificate in your work space or other visible location as a reminder to be kind throughout your day.

Share a "selfie" with your certificate on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram channels (include hashtag #BeKind) to inspire others to take the pledge, tell us how
Make a Gratitude Board
What’s the benefit?

Sharing a public display of gratitude can help build collaboration, compassion, and recognition in your team. Gratitude activities can enhance positive emotions and increase feelings of being valued and cared for by both the person expressing and receiving the words of appreciation. When people feel that they can trust one another and understand that they are important to a team, this can facilitate creativity, innovation, engagement, and effective collaboration.

How do I do it?

Identify a space in your unit—this could be in a staff room, copy room, or other frequent meeting place—where your team can post or view messages. Use part of a bulletin board (if you have one), or identify a section of a wall to make your dedicated “gratitude space.”

The sky’s the limit when it comes to creativity! Make a banner or headline for your gratitude space so that you can label it your “gratitude board,” “kudos board,” or any other name you like. Then post the instructions. You can provide sticky notes or small, blank pieces of paper (brightly colored paper can be particularly eye-catching) and encourage all members of your team to post notes of thanks, appreciation, and recognition for one another. Decide if you prefer the notes to be anonymous or not (or they could be a combination of named and anonymous notes).

Give examples of the types of gratitude comments that your department can post. For example, they may want to thank someone for a nice comment they shared, express appreciation for what a colleague does, or just tell someone how much you enjoyed a certain conversation with them.

If you don’t have an appropriate space for a gratitude board in your department, consider other possible ways to share appreciation among your team. For example, you may consider a “thank you jar” or box (decorate a container and encourage people to fill it with thank you notes), or put out a journal or notebook in which people can write down their kudos, comments, and share words of appreciation.

Time Required

Variable, depending on how you design it--but setting up a gratitude board could take as little as 15-20 minutes.

References

Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know. In Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T., & Steger, M. F. (Eds.) Designing the Future of Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. New York: Oxford University Press.

Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946.

Worline, M., & Dutton, J. E. (2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Share a Gratitude Card
What’s the benefit?

Offering heartfelt words of appreciation is a great way to connect with others. Gratitude activities can enhance positive emotions and increase feelings of being valued and cared for by the person expressing them as well as the person receiving the words of appreciation. In this way, gratitude can help maintain and strengthen relationships with others.

How do I do it?

Download and print the 1/4 page size Gratitude Card template or the business card size Gratitude Card template.

Encourage your department to complete the cards to express thanks and appreciation to one another. The card can be used to write a short thank you note, or it can be used as an “I.O.U.” coupon to encourage acts of kindness among your team.

Make plenty of copies for everyone on your team!

If you would like to have a large quantity of the 1/4 page gratitude cards printed they can be ordered through Allegra. Please contact Francis at Allegra at 734-944-1404 or [email protected] for current prices and available quantities.

You could also use the gratitude generator to send a similar message via email.

Time Required

5 minutes or less.

References

Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know what we need to know. In Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T., & Steger, M. F. (Eds.) Designing the Future of Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. New York: Oxford University Press.

Algoe, S. B. (2012). Find, remind, and bind: The functions of gratitude in everyday relationships. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(6), 455-469.

Worline, M., & Dutton, J. E. (2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Keep Track in a Gratitude Journal
What’s the benefit?

This gratitude exercise allows us to see good things as “gifts.” Thinking of the good things in your life as gifts can prevent you from taking them for granted, and to be more aware of the positive people and events in daily life. Try to savor the gifts you receive each day, no matter how small or large. This exercise also allows us to reflect on the causes of this goodness—and hopefully inspire us to find more of it!

Allowing yourself just a few minutes a day to reflect on the sources of goodness in your life can help boost positive emotions, increase life satisfaction, and contribute to a more positive outlook on life. Practicing gratitude can reduce stress and negative emotions. Research suggests that gratitude practices may also reduce health complaints and help us better cope with difficulties.

How do I do it?

There are many ways to begin a gratitude journal, but a simple and well-known approach is called “Three Good Things.”

Each day, write down three things that went well for you. These could be things for which you are grateful or events that brightened your day. They could be relatively small in importance (“My spouse made the coffee this morning”) or relatively larger in importance (“I received an award at work today”). These good things could also include people or things for which you feel appreciation and thanks (“I’m grateful for my sister’s support and advice today when I needed to talk about a problem I am having”).

Try to be as specific as possible—include details about the event, the person, or circumstances. Also, reflect on how you felt about the situation or person—describe how you felt at the time, as well as how you feel now while reflecting on it.

Then write about why this event occurred. What causes or explanations can you give for why each “good thing” went well for you?

Time Required

10-15 minutes per day.

References

Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know. In Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T., & Steger, M. F. (Eds.) Designing the Future of Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. New York: Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410.
Share Be Kind Be Well Ideas at a Meeting
What’s the benefit?

Talking openly about kindness and gratitude can help build collaboration, compassion, and understanding in your team. Research has shown that receiving a “thank you” from a supervisor gives people a strong sense of both self-worth and self-efficacy. Additionally, individuals who regularly practice gratitude can show improvements in burnout symptoms and increases in happiness. When people feel that they are appreciated and valued, it facilitates creativity, innovation, engagement, and effective collaboration. In turn, these compassionate values and actions can provide many benefits for an organization, including enhanced financial resilience, profitability, employee and customer retention, and many other positive workplace effects

How do I do it?

Introduce the activity by saying the following:

MHealthy is promoting a campaign of messages and activities on the topic of kindness called “Be Kind, Be Well.” As part of this campaign, the U-M community is being asked to consider ways in which kindness, compassion, and gratitude can be incorporated into the daily work environment. Numerous research studies show that acts of kindness and gratitude have positive effects on individual levels of happiness and group collaboration, engagement, creativity, and innovation. One strategy for highlighting the power of kindness is to encourage a discussion of compassion and appreciation within department teams. As a team, we can reflect on a few of the questions below and share suggestions for practicing gratitude and supporting one another so that we can work together in more positive and productive ways.

Select a few questions (as many as you have time for, or ones that seem most relevant to your team) to discuss in a daily huddle or staff meeting.

How can we, as a team, express appreciation for each other?

How do individuals on this team like to be thanked?

Where can members of this team help people more?

How can we be thankful for the challenges that we have experienced? What did we learn from them?

What opportunities do we have that we are thankful for?

What does “Be Kind, Be Well” mean to us? What is the relationship between kindness and wellness in this team?

Who and what do we appreciate? Why?

How can we say “thank you” more?

References

Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946.

Fehr, R., Fulmer, A., Awtrey, E., & Miller, J. A. (2017). The grateful workplace: A multilevel model of gratitude in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 42(2), 361-381.

Sexton, J. B., & Adair, K. C. (2019). Forty-five good things: A prospective pilot study of the Three Good Things well-being intervention in the USA for healthcare worker emotional exhaustion, depression, work–life balance and happiness. BMJ Open, 9(3), e022695.
Research on Kindness, Gratitude, and Compassion

What is the benefit of practicing kindness?

University of Oxford researchers Lee Rowland and Oliver Scott Curry designed an experiment to investigate the effects of a seven-day kindness activity. Specifically, they wanted to understand whether the type of kindness activity had an impact on the positive effects of kindness. For example: does being kind to family and friends boost well-being more than being kind to strangers (or the other way around)? Does acting kind boost well-being more than observing kindness?

Participants were assigned to unique groups and asked to perform acts of kindness for seven days: 1) for people with whom they have strong social ties (i.e., family and friends); 2) for people with whom they have weak social ties (i.e., strangers); 3) to engage in novel acts of self-kindness (i.e., doing something new and kind for oneself each day); or, 4) to observe acts of kindness (i.e., thinking about past kindness rather than actually doing a kind act). These groups were compared to a no kindness acts control group. The results indicate that performing kindness activities for seven days increases feelings of happiness. In addition, the researchers found that as the number of kind acts per week increased, participants showed increases in happiness. Notably, it did not matter which type of kindness activity that the participants did; being kind to friends, strangers, and to oneself, as well as observing acts of kindness, had equally positive effects on happiness.

Rowland, L., & Curry, O. S. (2018). A range of kindness activities boost happiness. The Journal of Social Psychology, 1-4.

What is the impact of expressing gratitude?

A number of research studies have shown that engaging in a gratitude journaling activity, such as counting one’s blessing or detailing a list of things for which one is thankful, can boost positive feelings. In fact, renowned positive psychology researcher Martin Seligman found that a specific type of gratitude activity called “Three Good Things” (in which individuals write down three things that went well each day and their causes every night for one week) results in increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms for six months after participating in the activity. Researchers Adam Grant and Francesca Gino also suggest that receiving expressions of gratitude (e.g., being thanked for providing assistance) can result in individuals feeling more valued and more willing to engage in helping behavior (e.g., helping a stranger with a task).

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377.

Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946.

Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410.

What is the impact of cultivating compassion?

Several researchers have investigated the effects of loving-kindness meditation on emotional and physical well-being. In this specific form of guided meditation, participants are asked to cultivate authentic, warm-hearted, compassionate feelings and thoughts for themselves and for other people. Loving-kindness meditation interventions have been shown to improve general health and well-being, and to enhance positive emotions. This type of meditation has also been shown to reduce depressive symptoms, and to increase compassion and altruistic behavior. One pilot study by a group of researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that a loving-kindness meditation program reduced pain, anger, and psychological distress in patients with persistent low back pain.

Compassion is not just for individuals; organizations that make compassion a foundation of business also see important benefits. When people feel cared for, trusted, and can collaborate effectively in the workplace, this increases the creativity, innovation, adaptability, and engagement of employees. This, in turn, can provide many benefits for an organization, and it has been found that compassion contributes to an organization’s financial resilience, profitability, and customer and employee retention.

Carson, J. W., Keefe, F. J., Lynch, T. R., Carson, K. M., Goli, V., Fras, A. M., & Thorp, S. R. (2005). Loving-kindness meditation for chronic low back pain: Results from a pilot trial. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 23(3), 287-304.

Fredrickson, B. L., Boulton, A. J., Firestine, A. M., Van Cappellen, P., Algoe, S. B., Brantley, M. M., ... & Salzberg, S. (2017). Positive emotion correlates of meditation practice: A comparison of mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation. Mindfulness, 8(6), 1623-1633.

Worline, M., & Dutton, J. E. (2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Online Resources to Boost Kindness, Self-Compassion and Well-Being
Michigan Medicine Resources

Michigan Medicine Wellness Office Well-Being Check-In Guide: This resource provides conversation prompts that you can integrate into team meetings and create regular opportunities to check in with colleagues.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhnsWbPiZ3ljVq3TXJafnOyXau-BNZoT/view

Making a Difference platform: All Michigan Medicine team members are encouraged to utilize the Making a Difference platform to recognize their colleagues.

Websites

Self-Compassion: Learn more about the science and practice of self-compassion from Dr. Kristin Neff, a pioneer in the field. Many guided practices and exercises are offered to support self-compassion.

Center for Mindful Self-Compassion: Access a variety of resources to learn and practice self-compassion and kindness.
https://centerformsc.org/

Audio/Video

The Power of Vulnerability

Researcher Brené Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, and love. In this poignant and funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity.

https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en

Want to Be happy? Be Grateful

The one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you’re going, and above all, being grateful.

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_steindl_rast_want_to_be_happy_be_grateful#t-176637

Podcasts

Happier, with Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin is an influential and thought-provoking observer of happiness and human nature. She’s the author of many books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. This podcast explores strategies for boosting the happiness in life—through understanding and changing our habits, setting priorities, and connecting with others. Named in iTunes’s lists of “Best Podcasts of 2015,” the Academy of Podcasters “Best Podcasts of 2016,” and BuzzFeed’s ”10 Life-Changing Things to Try in June.”
https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/

Mobile Apps

Happify: This app translates the science of happiness into online activities that can be completed from your phone or computer. You can select personal goals and activities on your identified happiness “track,” and engage in writing activities and games designed to increase happiness.

Super Better: Super Better has gamified the process of building happiness by creating short easy activities that you complete as you go on quests to build happiness-boosting skills like gratitude and resilience. The activities provide you with quick wins to jump-start your happiness journey.

Headspace: A popular meditation app that offers education and guided instructions on starting and maintaining a regular mindfulness practice.

Healthy Minds Program: A free meditation app that offers practices to increase awareness, connection, insight, and purpose.

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Resources and Research for Enhancing Gratitude and Kindness in the Workplace

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

References

What is the benefit of practicing kindness?

What is the impact of expressing gratitude?

What is the impact of cultivating compassion?

Michigan Medicine Resources

Websites

Audio/Video

Podcasts

Mobile Apps

MHealthy

Be Kind Be Well

Resources to Share Kindness

Zoom Backgrounds

Mobile Wallpapers

Gratitude Email Generator

Take the Pledge

Put Your Pledge in Your Email

If you or someone you know needs more support, we're here for you.

Resources and Research for Enhancing Gratitude and Kindness in the Workplace

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

Time Required

References

What’s the benefit?

How do I do it?

References

What is the benefit of practicing kindness?

What is the impact of expressing gratitude?

What is the impact of cultivating compassion?

Michigan Medicine Resources

Websites

Audio/Video

Podcasts

Mobile Apps

MHealthy

Gratitude Makes Work Better

Pledge to Be Kind

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