Want happy healthy teams? Let them control their time

A leader's job is to coach their team to be the best versions of themselves, but when they are aggressive, play the victim, procrastinate or are perfectionists, different methods will be needed to help them change their behavior, writes leadership expert and author Paul Thornton, who shares specific strategies. "If the problematic employee does not respond to your coaching and becomes toxic, it is time to take disciplinary action so the person understands the seriousness of the situation," Thornton notes.

Put it into practice: Whether you have a team member who is a perfectionist, a rescuer or is aggressive, the one thing they all need is a clear plan of action to change their behavior, Thornton recommends. "Agree on a measure the person will use to track their performance. This provides valuable feedback and keeps them motivated."

Complaining can be helpful when you want to vent or point out a problem, but chronic complaining can lead to a negative mindset that can adversely affect every part of your life, writes author Ryan Estis, who outlines a "No Complaining" challenge he implemented in his office. Nip complaining in the bud by starting your day with rituals that put you in a positive mood, look for opportunities in challenging circumstances and feel your negative emotions, but let them go and look for ways to solve problems, Estis advises.

Put it into practice: Estis used a "No Complaining" challenge developed by Rev. Will Bowen that involves swapping a purple bracelet from one wrist to the other whenever you catch yourself, or someone else, complaining, with the goal to keep the bracelet on one wrist for 21 consecutive days. "The 'no complaining' challenge can be difficult, as I found out on Day 1, and so you might want to ease yourself into it."

Instead of measuring productivity by the amount of work your team does, encourage them to adopt "slow productivity" so they can focus on fewer things at once, which allows them to actually complete more things with better quality and at a pace that does not leave them feeling burned out, says Cal Newport, a computer scientist and author. "This is going to become a much more sustainable work environment, and you're going to be doing the work that's going to make you better," Newport notes.

Asian, or Japanese, honeybees have added wing slaps to the known arsenal of protective measures they use to keep ants out of their nests, and videos described in the journal Ecology show the bees accelerating, leaning back and twisting in a windup to slapping the ants hard enough to knock them into the air to the ground below the nest. Previous research reports the bees gathering into balls to kill intruders with body heat and building barriers from animal feces.

There is a lot to complain about these days, whether it's politics, business or personal matters. With so much to be disagreeable about, it's easy to become a nattering nabob of negativity if you're not careful.

Ryan Estis' advice to try the "No Complaining" challenge is compelling and, well, challenging. Complaining can be so deeply ingrained that we may not even realize we're doing it because when we think we're just commenting or sharing our opinion on things, we're really just complaining about the state of things around us.

I haven't taken a "No Complaining" challenge, but I do play what I call "The Grievance Game." I use it to notice whenever I am complaining about something in my head. Usually, it's something someone else has done or forgotten to do. I'll be ruminating about some past offense, and when I catch myself, I say (out loud or in my head), "Grievance!" Then, I dismiss the thought.

I've played this game long enough that I can tag and release grievances reasonably quickly now. If I can catch the complaining thoughts before I utter them out loud, I do far less verbal complaining. I've already dealt with the complaint and set it free.

I invite you to try one of these games, either the "No Complaint" challenge or "The Grievance Game," and see if it helps you complain less and give more grace and compassion to those around you.

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