Make slackers shape up with this one devious trick
See if you can slip Pharrell into your office playlist: People who listen to upbeat music at work are better team players, research from Cornell University suggests.
In the study, people who listened to happy songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Walking on Sunshine” during group work contributed one-third more resources to their team’s bottom line than those who listened to more somber music or no music at all.
“Happy, rhythmic music helps to increase a person’s mood and, in turn, people who are in better moods tend to cooperate more,” says lead study author Kevin Kniffin, Ph.D.
So if you have a slacker or two on your team, playing upbeat songs in the background (when socially acceptable) can help cultivate motivation and teamwork, says Kniffin.
While the study used oldies but goodies, it’s likely that any song with a lively rhythm should do the trick.
“Happy, rhythmic music helps to increase a person’s mood and, in turn, people who are in better moods tend to cooperate more,” says lead study author Kevin Kniffin, Ph.D.
So if you have a slacker or two on your team, playing upbeat songs in the background (when socially acceptable) can help cultivate motivation and teamwork, says Kniffin.
While the study used oldies but goodies, it’s likely that any song with a lively rhythm should do the trick.
Options: “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake, “Happy” by Pharrell, and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
You don’t need to blare them either: Playing them softly in the background in office settings should work just fine, he says.
