Hiya TDP fam! I’m Sav AKA the brand spanking new strategist here at The Digital Picnic. [10 days and counting, this TDP’er is SUPER fresh!]

Total transparency, I was super anxious about starting a new job for many reasons [I mean, who would be my new work wife and where would I get my morning coffee?!] despite how amazing TDP were in the lead up to my first day.

No, really, they were AH-mazing. Cherie personally messaged me the night before my first day saying “so indescribably excited to welcome you tomorrow, lovely human!” and it *literally* made me feel so valued [without even stepping foot in the office ha!]

One of the biggest things I’ve realised in the 10 days [and counting] working here at TDP, is how important it is to celebrate the wins. Whether that’s team wins, individual wins or personal life wins, TDP celebrate it all, and it’s so refreshing to experience that kind of positive acknowledgement in a workplace. Seriously, the amount of #teamlove and support that’s both given and received by every single member of the TDP team? I’ve been properly *mind blown* by it.

The ripple effect that a simple “hey you’re doing a great job” or “you really nailed that strategy” can have on your self-confidence in a workplace is indescribable. So I wanted to share a few simple #workplacehacks that I’ve experienced in my 10 days [and counting] to anyone *still* reading this article [thanks for sticking with me beautiful humans!] 

1. Have a forum where team members can actively share positive feedback

At TDP, we have two active threads in our Slack team chat. The former is a thread entitled #humblebrag where the idea is to submit personal achievements that YOU are proud of and want to share with the team [sometimes the best kind of praise is #selfpraise]. The second thread is labelled #sunshine and it’s a positive love bubble full of messages like “Team lunch made me realise that I’m so happy to be back in a fab team after working solo for 5 years.” Anytime you want to give someone a compliment or a virtual high five [trust me, this all happens offline as well!] you share it in the sunshine folder, and it *literally* lights up that team members day. Simple? Yes. Effective? 1000%.

2. Do something nice [and spontaneous] for your team

Cherie is undoubtedly one of the kindest and most generous managers I’ve ever worked with. [She would be #cringing reading this, sorry Cherie!] On my first day I *nervously* walked into the office and saw that my desk had been decorated with a treasure trove of thoughtful gifts. This included a keep cup [YAS morning coffee], a ‘Dream Big’ water bottle [because #hydration and #dreamingbig should be synonymous ya know?], a ‘Thrive’ notebook [the first page literally said “you deserve to thrive every day”] and a beautiful book by Arianna Huffington entitled “Your dream life starts here.” On a day when I was feeling high levels of #anxiety and #selfdoubt this thoughtful gesture made me feel like I was already an integral part of the team. Oh and last Friday? Cherie spontaneously shouted the whole team to a dumpling lunch [tbh, they were the best damn dumplings I’ve ever had!] And as a result? We all stepped away from our desks and had a dumpling picnic together, full of lols and team chats. Dumplings? Win. Team bonding? Double win. 

3. Never underestimate the power of #cake

In my first week at TDP, Rachel [AKA the nicest Studio Assistant on the planet] messaged me asking what my favourite cake was [my birthday fell within 2 weeks of my start date at TDP.] The fact that the team even remembered my birthday was coming up brought the waterworks on immediately [I love cake but also #workplacekindness]. These types of #kind gestures [no matter the scale] can make a huge difference to the morale of your team. It could be as simple as a meaningful card, a bunch of flowers or a birthday cake [for the whole team to #drool over!] Never underestimate the power of small [but mighty] gestures, they can have a massive impact on both you, and your team.

If I were to rewrite this blog in a months time, that list of #workplacehacks would be double the size. In a years time? I would definitely exceed the word count of our blog ha! But in the 10 days [and counting] that I’ve been a part of this amazing team? I’ve realised that a little bit of workplace *sunshine* can promote a whole lot of happiness.  

Do you have an amazing #workplacehack? We want to hear from you! Let us know how you introduced #sunshine into your workplace in the comments below.