Ever walked down the street and saw printed footsteps on the ground that guided you to the trash cans? Or ever went to the supermarket and only saw promotion for healthy food? If the answer is yes, you have been nudged! Nudging is all about making a change that will be so intuitive that it’ll almost go unnoticed, making behavioral changes in groups that won’t take additional effort.

The nudging method is often used by governments to nudge society in a certain way. For example: to make public environments cleaner or to inspire people to live healthier. But, you can also apply nudging in the workplace in all kinds of situations:

• to stimulate a healthier lifestyle in your employees by encouraging them to eat more fruit and veggies at work, or to take the stairs instead of the elevator
• to create a cleaner workplace by encouraging your employees to smoke only in a certain area, or to dispose of their trash in bins instead of throwing it on the ground
• to influence your organization’s culture after a reorganization by encouraging your employees to live and breathe values and behaviors in support of a new business model