Yap 3.0

So what did you do this weekend? How was your evening? How was your date? How are the kids? Oh my, when are you due?.. and the all encapsulating How are you? We hear 'em and say 'em all, don't we? Every morning (Mondays it seems; where it is more prevalent), every time we bump into each other; we say it at every opportunity to ask how one's life is coming along.

In studying organisational behaviour, pleasantries play a significant part in humans' quest for bliss, reminds me of the first jhana of Samantha Meditation, or in this case, quest for a pleasant if not fully positive working environment.

This is also one of the factors of being social beings. We build communities, we create governments, we form our associations, societies, and any excuse to be 'together.' Technology assists us into social networking globally and every form of blogotonomy (ok I made that word up). The fact that we are social, we feed on the need to have someone say "how are you?" to open a door for potential further communication.

In as much as sometimes, we just want to be on our way and not be bothered by anyone (because we're oh so busy), maybe it try once and have a chat. I find that if I am in that crazy mode, my stopping for 2 minutes (and nothing past that), I feel better a bit. Barring circumstances like being verbally strangled by the office chatter or a crazy person, a little chat should be ok. This seems to be the reason why water cooler discussions bring lots of giggles. I personally like to discuss work while near the water cooler, fridge, vending machines, ... well food in general because not only does it provide me with an excuse to eat and work in parallel, it provides a relaxed environment with my team.

Kubicek* indicated that 45.4% of organisations admit that the lack of training is impairing their people's ability to deal effectively with bullying or negative positioning of coworkers. Maybe with a little bit more pleasantries, this can lessen; does this mean its an excuse to have a bit of training?

* Kubicek, M. (Nov 2005) On your best behaviour. 6