Organizational Psychology and Workplace Spirituality

Company shrinks – or rather psychologists who look at the world of work – occasionally shed light on things that we already know. WaPo writer Stacy writes about infectious emotions

Research has found that emotions -- both upbeat ones like enthusiasm and joy, and negative ones like sadness, fear and anger -- are easily passed from person to person, often without either party's realizing it. Emotional contagion occurs in a matter of milliseconds, says Elaine Hatfield, a professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii and co-author of "Emotional Contagion" (Cambridge University Press, 1994). If you're the receiver, you may not know what exactly happened, just that you feel differently after the encounter than you did before.
It turns out this phenomenon depends on a basic, even primal, instinct: During conversation, humans unconsciously tend to mimic and synchronize the other person's facial expressions, posture, body language and speech rhythms, explains John T. Cacioppo, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago.

Read her article for further information on how moods are transmitted and How to avoid catching bad moods from others.

In his book Spirituality at Work Gregory Pierce addresses several questions on the meaning of spirituality in the workplace.

(Go here for my review.) One of his primary questions is “How do we deal with others at work?” This is a broader issue than avoiding catching bad moods from others. While we are not responsible for others’ moods – good or bad – we are responsible for how we treat them. We are also responsible for our own attitudes. Articles such as Colino’s can help us be aware of how others affect us. In the end, it is up to us to act on our work environment in positive ways. This can start with the Serenity Prayer in its complete version.

Pierce suggests that the practice of giving thanks and congratulations to our coworkers, customers and even competitors is one of the ten basic spiritual disciplines in the workplace. By doing this we can take steps towards creating a positive atmosphere. He suggests that we:

• List five ordinary ways that we do this at work, post the list and use it
• Think of someone who deserves recognition, hasn’t gotten it and think of an extraordinary way to give it.
• Once a week thank ourselves for something we did well
• Once a year review our pay – and that of our employees. If someone is not justly paid, try to do something about it.
• Give recognition to competitors when they deserve it
• Develop a prayer of thanksgiving for the work we do and say it regularly

As a fan of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s TLC show Shalom in the Home,  I can say this is good advice for the home as well as at work.