Mind over matter: How to introduce mindfulness into your organization and why you should

Introducing mindfulness 

Managing the demands of the digital environment is only one of a range of issues that mind training can address. Sleep management and nutrition, for example, are critical components of a healthy level of self-awareness. Another key element in developing self-awareness is the practice of mindfulness.  

Mindfulness incorporates a number of elements, such as understanding how to be more mentally and emotionally “present” when we’re with people, or how best to focus on a given task. We can also use mindfulness to develop valuable business skills, such as reading the body language of colleagues, clients, or suppliers to better understand their feelings and perspectives, as well as using our own body language to project a positive, encouraging attitude.  

In the same way as a professional athlete manages their physical and mental wellbeing, we, as workplace performers, should manage ours, taking notice of what our minds and bodies are telling us. A professional athlete does not run themselves into the ground but, rather, alternates intensive work sessions with periods of rest and recuperation. Too often, business employees push themselves (or are pushed by managers) beyond a reasonable point of endurance, leading to the exhaustion now widely reported. By becoming aware of this and thinking more like an athlete, we can improve our personal physical and mental health, minimize “downtime,” and maximize productivity when we are working. 

Putting mindfulness into practice 

Mindfulness techniques anchor your attention in the present moment by grounding the body, finding a place of silence in your mind, and realizing that you can find space in your mind away from the fears and anxieties of everyday working life.  

Leaders should attempt to master these techniques themselves in order better to convey them to their teams, presenting themselves as a model of the practice. Mindfulness programs in the organization should be implemented by executive committee members, such as the chief human resources officer or chief learning officer, showing that the initiative has been adopted from the top down. 

As one IMD team member recognized in our own post-mind training program study, “Mindfulness is not just an individual decision, but also requires collective consciousness of it, and a willingness to spread it throughout the organization.” 

Our experience of mindfulness 

IMD’s training program starts with a voluntary introductory session of 90 minutes that gives team members an idea of the neuroscience behind mindfulness, showing it is based on serious research. This leads to an eight-week program of mindfulness training with our partner, Potential Project (www.potentialproject.com). We’ve found that around 80% of people who attend the initial workshop sign up for the full program, so our people clearly see it as beneficial. 

For team members who have completed our training, we found a 21% improvement in work/life balance, as well as a 14% increase in focus, and (relatedly) a 12% reduction in multi-tasking. Other areas of improvement include creativity (8%), engagement (6%), and reduced job-related stress (4%). 

Another huge benefit is a significant reduction in absenteeism, both for health reasons and stress. A consulting firm we work with noted that, within a sample of 1,000 of its staff, following mindfulness training, they reduced absenteeism by 40%, as well as increasing productivity by 15%, despite staff members saying they were actually working less.  

IMD proposes a more advanced 8-week program called MBSR – Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction – that includes a full-day practice in silence with no phone that IMD colleagues really appreciate. 

Clearly, time invested in mindfulness can bring significant rewards to your business. We encourage our team members to devote 10‒15 minutes a day to mindfulness practices as an ongoing “mental hygiene” routine. It’s a small daily investment – but the returns are huge.