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In high school, didn’t a part of you always wonder how the cool kids did it? Popularity remained an enigmatic aspect of human existence that ceased to be relevant once we threw our caps in the air…right?
There are scores of research studies on popularity in schools, and most have indicated that popular children are viewed as better students and make and maintain friendships more easily. In 2009, however, organizational psychologists Timothy Judge and B.A. Scott at the University of Florida demonstrated that popularity plays a significant role on success in the workplace. They defined popularity as being “accepted by one’s peers” and conceptualized it as a function of both an employee’s personality and the situational position within his group.
As a result of studying two samples of employee populations, professors Judge and Scott reported that co-workers reliably agreed about who was popular on their team – and who wasn’t. Co-workers also felt that an employee’s popularity was associated with receiving more favorable treatment at work. Why? Judge and Scott suggest that popular employees are rewarding to interact with for both emotional and instrumental reasons. In addition to being “fun to be with,” popular individuals are thought to increase co-worker status by association and make it easier to get things done.
Meg Cabot just wrote a book for teens called How to Be Popular, but rest assured, I’m not going to make you read it. Instead, here are some painless tips for increasing your popularity on the office social circuit.
• Be interested in other people: Human beings love to talk about themselves and be listened to. By taking the time to learn about what a co-worker deems important and inquiring about those things, you’ll make her happy and encourage her to like you.
• Shift attention away from yourself: Don’t chat on endlessly about what you and your boyfriend or girlfriend did over the weekend, and if a co-worker broaches a particular topic, don’t immediately turn the discussion to your own experiences. Instead of trying to be admired, be admiring.
• Eradicate self-consciousness: People who lack confidence make others feel nervous and awkward. When conversing with co-workers, try to be natural and relaxed, without worrying about how you’re being perceived.
• Organize team building activities: You don’t have to be your department’s cheerleader, but it’s nice to occasionally take charge of getting the group together for drinks or another fun activity after work or during the holidays. Most people like to be social, and the individual who takes responsibility for being the organizer usually gets popularity points.
• Help whenever you can: Always be generous with your knowledge, expertise, and time without expecting anything in return. People like those who they can count on in times of stress and who are willing to pitch in without making a big production out of it.
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Comments
02.12.10
Paul Graham offers a rebuttal more eloquent than I could offer: http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html
Thankfully there are other fields to play on than the "popularity" field. I believe what he says applies to the "jocks" and the "artsy" kids as well. In the real world, where real results matter, it is possible to find reward by creating value doing work much more enjoyable than the tedious job of being popular.
02.12.10
I think this is why it is important to define and enforce professional behavior in the office. Professional behavior helps put everyone on a even playing field. When your relationship to your coworkers is primarily based upon your job function, rather than popularity, then everything goes much smoother. You can do your job, be polite, and respect your coworkers based upon how well they do their job.
Sure, this means an office that is unlikely to have wild parties where every body bonds and becomes best pals. But it also reduces the likelihood of an office full of back-biting and sabotage.
02.12.10
I suppose if the bullet points don't come naturally, you can always consult Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People". Not as pretentious as the title sounds and surprising relevant today, despite being written so long ago.
02.12.10
Hmmm... ARE "popular people" fun to be with? In many cases they are not. Popular people are the ones who can convince other people, those who are insecure people or have low self-esteem, that being around them means "being a winner."
It is my observation that acceptance by one's peers only helps in a narrow band in the dead middle. This is true in both positive and negative senses, examples being the total jerk CEO who is successful AND the more mundane entry-level worker who dresses for the job s/he wants and not the one s/he has and takes flack for being snooty.
02.13.10
I do think it is important to be well liked in the workplace although the word "popular" brings out other connotations of high-school "queen-bees" which are often anything but nice. I think this is the reason there are several negative comments to the article.
I think all the suggestions are valid because unless you do a very solitary job you are going to have to work on teams and people prefer working with coworkers that make them feel at ease, ask questions about their personal life (without being nosy) and approach situations with confidence.
This has nothing to do with lack of professionalism or wild parties, it has to do with the fact that you shouldn't avoid coffee-break chatter and if most of your co-workers go out for lunch every Friday you should join them at least on occasion.
02.13.10
Morana - I agree with you except for one item: "Organize team building activities." That one isn't simply a matter of being open to people or observing social niceties. Actually taking leadership in social activities, as opposed to simply participating in them, is a matter of personality type not sociability. In fact, there are other ways to be sociable that tend to be the "specialty" of a diametrically opposed personality type. The person who "everyone goes to with concerns" (INFP? INFJ?) is very, very, very unlikely to be the "host/hostess" sort (ESFJ?) and vice versa.
02.13.10
Morana - I agree with you except for one item: "Organize team building activities." That one isn't simply a matter of being open to people or observing social niceties. Actually taking leadership in social activities, as opposed to simply participating in them, is a matter of personality type not sociability. In fact, there are other ways to be sociable that tend to be the "specialty" of a diametrically opposed personality type. The person who "everyone goes to with concerns" (INFP? INFJ?) is very, very, very unlikely to be the "host/hostess" sort (ESFJ?) and vice versa.
02.15.10
Popularity isn't going to keep you employed, if you can't do the job. In high school, I never was cool, never wanted to be cool, never sought to be cool. More than 30 years later, most of the "cool" kids never advanced beyond front line management of a 7-11. I think I've been doing more interesting and rewarding things.
Team building activities? Scott Adams and Dilbert has made a tradition of skewering so-called "team building activities".
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