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Human beings are very much social animals. We seek out like-minded individuals to discuss, cooperate, and accomplish goals. For the most part, social interaction is a part of everyday life when it comes to work and play. However, we are often forced into coexisting with individuals we find irritating, frustrating, and sometimes hostile. Every individual is unique, but generally that individual will fall under a certain trope of personality, or favor a couple of tropes. By tropes, I mean things like "The Jolly Big Guy" or the "Driven Professional" stereotypes. There's nothing inherently wrong with fitting into a stereotype, and it actually makes this much easier to work with others by knowing who and what you are personality-wise.

When talking about an office environment, knowing the kind of person you are, and knowing the kind of people you work with, can be a huge boon to your company because you can utilize that information to increase office synergy and boost productivity. Some personalities will have a hard time meshing together to form a cohesive unit, but it is possible to work with and around these hurdles to make sure that not only are the employees and employers working to their absolute maximum potential, but that the environment can be a positive one as well. While positivity has no direct link to profits and making money, the end goal for a company from the corporate to the individual level, it certainly lends itself to many benefits that affect business growth. If you want your business to succeed, or you want to succeed in your office, a little bit of psychology can go a long way.

You know your company or office environment. You know who you work with, who you like, who you dislike, who you answer to, who that person answers to, and so on. The key to remember is that they are all people who have individual motivations that compel them to be there, just as you do. Each individual accomplishes their goals differently since they have varying personalities, but within an office environment those individuals tend to move toward the same goal.

From the top down, you have leaders. Typically, they'll be found in the upper and mid management, but the aspiring hopefuls have to start somewhere too. Good leadership qualities include self-motivation, organizational skills, and charisma. There are different flavors of leader as well. From the Big Picture vision to the Micromanagement variants, these are the ones who are either actively leading the company or aspiring to. Leaders tend to be driving forces wherever they go. They can inspire those around them to push themselves further, push innovation, and generally get tasks done. These personalities are great, but can sometimes conflict with others. For example, you may have a leader who takes charge when it's inappropriate to do so. Or a leader who compulsively takes control of every situation. These personalities can be worked with, but it requires patience from those around them and the leaders themselves. Knowing your own weaknesses is one of the biggest advantages you can have.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have followers. Individuals who may be very capable in their own right, but work best under the guidance of a leader or mentor. Good qualities and behaviors include listening, cooperation, and obedience. Without followers, oftentimes, the goals of the leaders won't have the resources necessary to be accomplished. Followers can make or break a company; you're only as good as your team is. That in mind, disrespect, resentment, and poor performance are the banes to a follower. If a follower is disrespectful toward a leader or fellow follower, then that's a problem within the work environment. If a leader is disrespectful to their followers, then resentment grows and the followers disassociate themselves with that leader, sometimes even leaving the company. Poor performance doesn't land soley in the domain of the follower, but a follower with poor performance can ruin the effectiveness of a team if they aren't motivated to perform better.

When working with groups of people it's important to constantly learn more about them so that you know how best to work with them. It doesn't mean you're the only one changing, but rather, opening up dialogue to give each other the best of your work and the best of your cooperation. Communication is the key in this environment, and learning how to communicate with each other puts you at an advantage.