With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s only right to talk about the five infamous love languages.
Our “love languages” are how we like to receive and express love to others, but we often think of them in terms of romantic relationships.
However, love languages aren’t just for your significant other, we use them with family, friends, and, yes, even colleagues.
Today we’re focusing on a lesser-taken path of love languages: professional love languages.
What are they and how can you use them to build a stronger team?
The Love Languages
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman popularized the five love languages back in 1992. His book was about the ways that people like their partners to express their love. Most often, people display their love in the same way they like to receive it because that’s the love language they best understand.
The five love languages are:
- Quality Time
- Receiving Gifts
- Physical Touch
- Words of Affirmation
- Acts of Service
The point of love languages is to identify the other person’s so that you can show them love how they prefer to receive it.
For example, some people are big on physical touch. Cuddling, hugging, kissing and physical affection is what makes them feel loved. Logically, someone whose love language is physical touch will try to show their love to their partner via physical touch. But, if their partner’s love language is actually acts of service, that person may not feel loved. With that understanding, you may run an errand for them without being asked before going straight for a hug.
Professional Love Languages
Love languages have obvious applications for relationships, but their value doesn’t end there. It may sound a little odd at first, but love languages apply to the professional world. Here’s how the love languages would look at work:
- Gifts: Sending small gifts (within company policy) to coworkers and clients is one way to express appreciation at work. Sometimes, this may be in the form of a “Bravo or Kudos,” some sort of thank you points or rewards for an employee that goes above and beyond. You could also send information, promotional items, or a small holiday gift to show that you’re thinking of that person.
- Words of Affirmation: Expressing your appreciation to colleagues can help boost morale. It’s easy to feel unappreciated at work, and small words of affirmation go a long way. Acknowledge the hard work of others, or when they present a great idea. Share team wins in a meeting, on your Slack channel, or even just with colleagues.
- Quality Time: Quality time at work can mean several things. For one, it can include getting to know your coworkers outside of your work projects. Inviting them to lunch or organizing fun activities can go a long way toward quality time. But quality time at work is also about making time for questions, projects, and understanding each other’s goals.
- Acts of Service: Going the extra mile to help with projects and get things done is a form of acts of service at work. Instead of letting one person handle everything, offer to help them out. Make the effort to check in with others and find ways to contribute.
- Physical Touch: Physical touch at work is quite a bit different than in other relationships. We don’t advocate unwarranted hugs and kisses at work. Instead, physical touch translates to intimacy, including empathy. Demonstrate empathy at work to make other employees feel valued.
Strengthen Your Team with Professional Love Languages
Much like love languages in other relationships, professional love languages will appeal to us differently. Think about what makes you feel appreciated at work, but also make the effort to learn about the professional love languages of your colleagues or employees.
Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to start thinking about professional love languages, but expressing appreciation at work is always important for fostering strong teams and good communication.
For a more productive, happy, and enjoyable work environment, start practicing these professional love languages!