Make connections to be happy at work

Are you happy at your workplace? Do you enjoy what you do there? Work is a very important field of our lives, it has a significant effect on our general mood. Read this short article and find a way to improve your work life. (Behind the article you can find the tasks to help you get the point.)

An excerpt from the article Positive Psychology and the Workplace: A Labor of Love, published on http://positivepsychologyprogram.com.

Make connections to be happy at work

Positive emotions have been linked with numerous positive outcomes including improved health and wellbeing, long life, and a greater quality of life. On the flip side anger, anxiety, depression, and worry have been shown to be related to poor health outcomes.

However, developing and maintaining a state of positivity and happiness is not as easy as it seems. Moreover, people do not always understand what truly lies at the roots of their own happiness.

Given that we spend on average half of our waking hours at work, many organizations and business leaders are increasingly starting to realize that using psychological techniques and know-how in the workplace is crucial.

Make Connections

Science tells us that the greatest way to influence our happiness is to make new connections with the people around us as well as strengthen old ones. Simply, the more social we are, the happier we become.

Evolution has ensured our survival is tied to our skills to connect with others. Our brains are literally wired to connect with those around us and to understand their feelings and intentions. These connections have the power to affect how we feel.

In a recent survey, almost 40 percent of the respondents named their colleagues as the top reason they enjoy their work. Furthermore, over two thirds of respondents reported that not only did those positive relationships increase their productivity, but it helped reduce stressful and difficult challenges at work.

Make an effort to eat lunch in the canteen. Organise a get together with your colleagues after work and get to know the people you are spending so much time with.

As a manager or team leader you need to be aware of how positivity and negativity can spread among your people. Be aware of the importance of managing morale because one unhappy person can make for an unhappy office.

Help your staff come together and connect by starting office-wide competitions or team building events that encourage people to work together and build meaningful relationships. Place your staff who are high in energy, satisfaction and performance strategically in your teams and watch their natural manners transform the atmosphere of the office.

An excerpt from the article Positive Psychology and the Workplace: A Labor of Love, published on http://positivepsychologyprogram.com.

Tasks to help you understand the article:

1.     Summarize the article in one sentence. 

2.     Answer these questions:

• Why do we have to make connections with people around us?

• How can you improve your connections at work?

• What can you do if you are a leader?

• Why is it important to manage morale at the company?

3.     You can find 4 orange words in the text. Find their synonymies in the list.

~ is connected to, is linked to

~ motivate

~ critical, very important

~ efficiency

4.     There are two pairs of synonymies among the underlined words. Can you find them?

Do you have meaningful connections at work? Are there opportunities to socialize with the others? Share your experience with us.