CPA Practice Advisor - 30

THE LEADERSHIP ADVISOR

How to Implement a Mindfulness
Program in Your Practice
MINDFULNESS IS A term that can be overused, and often it is not given enough weight as
a necessary practice in our work lives. The tipping point for the mindfulness movement
probably came in 2016, when TIME Magazine published a special edition devoted solely to
the topic. This has become a nationwide reference point, and you can still buy issues today.
As research into the topic has grown, it's become clear just how beneficial mindfulness
practices can be in our hyper-distracted, always-on-the-go age. "Mindfulness is putting
down our juggling balls for a little bit. It's about embracing the beauty of monotasking,"
Mary Elizabeth Williams writes in that TIME piece. That just about sums up what mindfulness
is, but it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the ways we can and should apply
mindful practices in our work lives. However; mindfulness itself can seem like
such a broad area, that many of us our not sure how to implement it.
As with any concept that promotes
health and wellness, companies are
quickly coming to terms with the idea
that promoting mindfulness can be
beneficial for their team members.
With so many benefits, on an organizational level as well as an individual one, investing in mindfulness
programs is set to become standard
in much the same way that in-office
gyms and health reimbursements
are today. That being said, promoting mindfulness in general is not
the same thing as creating formal
programs that employees are able to
take advantage of and the employer
can see tangible benefits.

THE STARTING POINT
Many times, businesses do little more
than encourage employees to research
mindfulness and take some time on
their own to practice it. I know of
situations where employees hear a
speaker on this topic and are inspired
to incorporate these tools into their
workday; however; when long-term
there is no formalized program
or monitoring by the company its
hard to ensure the employees can
reap the benefits. Encouragement is
great, but it is no substitute for a real

MAY 2019 ■

implementation. A recent Harvard
Business Review report on corporate
wellness plans of all types notes that
intermittent suggestion rarely works.
"One of the biggest lessons we learned
in the process of creating the report
is one-time events masquerading as
health promotion programs - that
is, activities not integrated into a
comprehensive workplace health
promotion strategy - are likely to fail."
How, then, does one go about
integrating mindfulness into the
workplace in a perpetual, actionable
way that resonates with employees?
It's a question many of the biggest corporations in the world are struggling
with in real-time. To help with this, I
have been interviewing mindfulness
leaders at corporations that have
formalized programs such as LinkedIn
and SAP, as well as the tech vendors
that have applications that you can
utilize to help people decompress
during the workday.

INSIGHTS FROM THE
FRONT LINES
What I have found is that these
mindfulness leaders are tasked
with "operationalizing compassion."
They've been asked to define what it

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means to run a company
compassionately. This
operational approach
helps codify behaviors and practices.
Yes, mindfulness
may
involve different activit ies
for
d i f ferent
people, but
creat ing
broad systems and practices allows
mindful engagement and compassion
to be ever-present features of your
workplace culture.
To implement mindfulness at your
company it begins simply by carving
out space for it. Dedicating space for
people to meditate, or simply relax
with their thoughts shows real investment in mindfulness. Then operationalizing it into the communication and
rhythm of the workplace is next.
It can be little steps that go a
long way. An example can be ending
meetings five to ten minutes before
the top of the hour to give everyone
less of a hurried sense that their
day is one thing on top of the next
without a single moment to breathe.

AMY VETTER, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Mindful Technologist &
Keynote Speaker
@AmyVetterCPA

This little adjustment can make a big
shift in people's mindsets. Instead of
having to hustle from one room to
the next, like when we were in high
school, we operationalize giving
time to our employees to reset
their thoughts, breathe, and
approach the next task with
the same energy and vigor we
did the last. Or, alternatively,
change the energy if the last
meeting was a stressful one
before walking into a new
meeting.

HOW TO APPLY
MINDFULNESS
IN YOUR
WORKPLACE
It starts with making
a commitment to not
grind our teams down to
a fine pulp in the name of
productivity. In fact, research shows
that taking time for mindfulness can
actually make you more productive.
By formally providing the time in the
workday for "mindfulness breaks" that
could be 10-15 minutes in the morning
or evening, a space for people to go to
decompress that is silent and peaceful
in the office, or starting each meeting
with 2 minutes of silence to shift the
energy so everyone can be present in
the meeting, you should begin to see
a less stressed, more compassionate
work culture. In that sense, mindfulness presents a win-win opportunity
for firms. It creates happier employees
and better work. ■

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