Socializing in the Workplace

From the simplest game of tic-tac-toe to a formal charity ball, social play has a significant role in human play behavior. Humans are social animals, and play is the gas that drives the engine of social competence. 

“The ability to play is critical not only to being happy, but also to sustaining social relationship and being a creative, innovative person. Consider what the world would be without play. It’s not just an absence of games or sports. Life without play is a life without books, without movies, art, music, jokes, and dramatic stories. Imagine a world with no flirting, no day dreaming, no comedy, no irony. Such a world would be a pretty grim place to live. In a broad sense, play is what lifts people out of the mundane." –Stuart Brown

Play allows society to function and individual relationships among many to flourish. Socializing is the core in building the foundation in personal relationships. They are two identifiable sub-types of social play: friendship and belonging and celebratory and ritual play.

Friendship and belonging: the basic state of friendship that operates throughout our lives. Give-and-take, with shared contagious enthusiasm, characterizes healthy mutual play.

Celebratory and ritual play: Children don’t need formal events to imitate play, because they do so naturally. Children don’t spontaneously initiate these events, but such ritual social experience creates a reservoir of good memories and help them develop a taste for ritual play as adults. As adults, play provides an “official” excuse to play and to keep this play pattern under social control.

According to Science, Humans are mammals. According to Loretta Graziano Breuning, "A mammal often has to choose between its social needs and its other survival needs, so difficult trade-offs between dopamine is part of a mammal’s daily life." The good feeling of oxytocin is released when you find social support. When you make a connection, you release oxytocin, a natural stress reliever. Mammals seek safety in numbers because of the feel-good chemicals.

Socializing in the workplace shouldn’t be frown upon but instead celebrated. Companies should support collaboration over competition because they recognize that personal power is what makes collective power so strong. Professionals thoroughly understand the power of connecting and networking. They know the strength of socializing. 

Research has shown that one sure way of improving your mood is to work on building social connections, and your social network is one of your best tools for handling stress. Building healthy connections help you to live longer, share ideas, spark creativity, improve trust, and create bonds.

It is very beneficial for the company if the employees socialize. Socializing leads to making connections, building relationships, and cooperating efficiently. Let professionals have time to engage and mastermind for solutions. Let them socialize about things other than work to relieve some stress. It is imperative for professionals to feel supported and part of a strong and healthy team. 

What may seem like wasting company time is bonding. Team bonding is the trust that makes the machine not only work effectively but efficiently. Team bonding increases productivity and allows for the office to work better in solving daily workplace issues.

According to Jeannette Moninger, "Your social network is one of your best tools for handling stress. Talk to others -- preferably face to face, or at least on the phone. Share what’s going on. You can get a fresh perspective while deepening your connection." Connections are all that will matter in the end. Socializing is the key to connecting and increasing productivity. 

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