The month’s Positive Psychology News Daily article focuses on Positive Psychology and using social networking sites like Facebook. Of course social networking cannot replace real face-to-face human interaction (as Aren Cohen wrote in his comment, a Facebook hug is not the same as real one), however it is a hugely powerful technology for connecting people across the globe in a way that has never been possible before.

From an organisational perspective, social networking is vastly underrated. You may be sceptical, but it’s the perfect means to engage staff in the workplace. That’s not necessarily to say that you should allow 24/7 access to Facebook (although some companies do), but that you should consider how to use the technology to create meaningful micro-communities, where social bonds can be built across the organisational hierarchy and information can be shared.

Technology can be humanising, and the psychological research supports that – for instance, did you know that groups engage in more social interaction when the interaction takes place through email/online than they do working in face-to-face groups?

IBM is one example of a company which has embraced the power of social networking technology, and is reaping huge rewards. By building the “Beehive”, it’s own social networking site, IBM is successfully creating a sense of community amongst its employees, despite its vast size. (To find articles on Beehive, click here and search for ‘Beehive’).

So if you’re serious about engagement and building social connections in your workplace, think seriously about social networking.

UPDATE Dec 2009: Dr Jonathan Passmore and I have just published ‘The Facebook Manager: The psychology and practice of web-based social networking’.

Image: Luc Legay

Are you out of work and looking for a job at the moment? This is a great posting from Peter Bregman about why you shouldn’t try too hard, and why you should instead spend most of your time doing things you love doing. The theory is that doing stuff you really enjoy helps motivate you, makes you energised and interesting, committed and passionate, all qualities that employers value. My friend Melody says the same thing (that if you work at things you love doing, the work will eventually find you) and you couldn’t find a better example; she’s a talented and successful trainer – she loves her job and she’s never short of contracts: it works for her.

Peter gives his own 4-step recipe for finding work when you’re not actively looking for it. I think the words ‘with other people’ should be highlighted in big bold letters. The key thing is that you don’t do the activities you love doing on your own, you find other people to do them with. The reason this is such an important point and one worth saying again and again is that finding a job is all about who you know, not what you know.

A couple of other things worth adding:  this is not about finding things to distract you from worrying about your unemployed status (such as drinking in the pub every afternoon with your mates), and it will take some courage to ‘give up’ a frenzied 24/7  job-search which is probably what your logical left-brain keeps telling you to do. Oh, and you will need to have an understanding partner, since s/he may think you’re just wasting time. And having far too much fun for someone who’s out of work.

In addition to Peter’s advice I’d also stress that you look for ways to engage your strengths during this period of unemployment. If your top VIA-IS strength is courage or curiosity, use it to try new activities and to meet new people. If it’s leadership, use it to organise an activity involving others. If it’s creativity, use it to sign up for a new art or craft class at your local college. If it’s team-work, volunteer your time to a local charity. The reason for suggesting using your strengths in new ways is that this has been proven to increase your well-being. And when you’re out of work, you’re likely to need this more than ever.

Thanks to Senia Maymin for the link.

Image: CarbonNYC

I’ve been reading a lot about Twitter over the past 12 months or so, and have finally succumbed. A simple search of Pos Psych today unearthed plenty of old stuff about Seligman, using strengths and stuff like that, and then I came across this list of Pos Psych songs by Dr John Schinnerer. Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but in the meantime I thought you might enjoy it!

Image: Ktylerconk

Continuing the theme of career and personal change, here’s an excellent book for anyone contemplating the possibility of a new career: Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career by Brian McIvor. It covers everything from identifying your transferable skills and benchmarking your expertise to dealing with rejection and creative alternatives to the CV. It’s part of a series of management books specifically designed with busy managers in mind.

You can even try before you buy, by downloading a sample chapter. Brian has over 30 years experience as a management skills training specialist, plus a long association with the Open University Business School, which is how we met. His areas of expertise include:

• Career planning and development
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Corporate communications including corporate video and multimedia

For more details, see Brian’s website here.

Image: thinkpublic reused under Creative Commons Licence.

We were talking about this just the other day: so here’s an uplifting tale from the States (where else?) on the positive after-effects of losing your job.

The moral of the story? Write a best-seller about your experience, and sell the film rights!

Thanks to Caroline Rivka for the link

Image: Alex Cheek, reused under Creative Commons License