Being Mindful Improves Relationships With Co-Workers

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

The topic of mindfulness has been a hot topic for a number of years now. This is not to be confused with meditation which is often lumped together with mindfulness – because they do often go hand in hand.

Mindfulness is the concept of being more attentive, aware, and hence mindful of the world around you whereas meditation is a specific practice that can and often is a part of mindfulness training and practices – but not necessarily.

These researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University wanted to find out how mindfulness practices can impact work environments and conducted a qualitative study with 30 formal interviews, and 50 informal interviews, with managers, professionals, and consultants.

What did they find?

They found that there was a wide variety of mindfulness practises which can be as varied as pausing before starting a meeting or being particularly attentative while listening to a person.

The effects however seemed to also go past the individual themselves but participants noted how this impacted positive relationships and improved relationships in the workplace also positively affecting trust and psychological safety in the workplace. Bothe of which we know contribute to improved group outcomes in multiple ways and are backed up a by a bunch of research.

So, being mindful is not just beneficial to an individual but can improve relationships and group outcomes in the workplace. Not bad●

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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Reference

Christopher S. Reina, Glen E. Kreiner, Alexandra Rheinhardt, Christine A. Mihelcic. 
Your Presence Is Requested: Mindfulness Infusion in Workplace Interactions and Relationships. 
Organization Science, 2022
DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2022.1596

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