Last weekend I went to Boston, MA to attend the Wellness Workdays conferences on worksite wellness and nutrition consulting. While we reviewed plenty of tips specific to worksite wellness, I noticed that there were several lessons that apply to anyone. I’ve separated them into two posts for quicker reading (you can read each in <5 min) – click to continue to Part 2.
8 Life Lessons from the Worksite Wellness Conference – Part 1:
1. Collaboration/Cooperation is key
Network with everyone you can. Eventually you will get to a place where you will have the ability to offer a mutually beneficial opportunity to one of your contacts. Michele Wise, Senior Benefits Special Programs Coordinator at Brown University, shared some examples of how her wellness program is built on collaboration with other professionals at the university. She drew on professors and staff to give popular wellness-related lectures and workshops. This increased employee engagement in the wellness program, provided interesting activities for employees, and gave the speakers good publicity.
2. Know where to find resources
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Know where to find good resources and you will save time and energy. This can be national/international organizations (like WELCOA in the worksite wellness industry), well-connected or experienced contacts, or even a resource saved from an earlier program.
3. Have a plan for executing your program/project… and for evaluation
It’s great to know what you want to do, but don’t forget to also think about how you’ll know if you’ve done it well. Many worksite wellness programs (and other programs and projects) have no way of evaluating their outcomes. This limits the amount that can be learned from all the work you put in. Don’t let this happen to your project. Have a plan to decide what you will need to measure, and you will be able to take measurements throughout the project, instead of wishing at the end that you’d recorded the required information.
4. Know when to ask for help
There are times when we can do things ourselves, and there are times when it is really best to ask for help/advice (even if we end up doing the work ourselves). Learning to identify the difference in these scenarios is key to success in many situations. Why start from the beginning if someone else has already made the mistake you are about to make? You can learn from their experience and move on from there.
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What is the lesson that resonates most with you? Let me know in the comments below.
Continue to life lessons #5-8. If you haven’t already, you can also sign up to get posts – about health and wellness, recipes, lessons, and social media tips – sent straight to your inbox.
Shelly Najjar, MPH, RDN 
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