Psychologist in many places get a bad rap. If you’re like me and come from the fundamental faith background (Charismatic) they can be seen as Lucifer. And, let’s be honest, there is a positive and a negative to anything. A good and an evil to every person, profession and performance.

A few weeks back I stopped in the co-working space where I help build community and noticed everyone was sitting in different areas of the space — they were all scattered. There didn’t seem to be a pattern but there was a pattern because yesterday everyone was sitting in the exact same spaces and it reminded me of school.

You remember when you first started school?

I remember walking into college for the first time and being overwhelmed with how many students were in the class. I looked around and didn’t know anyone in the class.

I didn’t search out anyone to meet. I minded my own business, sat down and listened to the lecture. It took a few months before I bumped into someone who was in my class and we began to chat and find similar interests. Then you know what happened? I had someone to sit next to in class.

You know what I love about psychologists?

Let me tell you about Sara. I met Sara when I just got out of college and wanted to become a celebrity. Actually, I wanted to get on the show ‘Real World’. It just so happened I met Sara at a bar one night and she just so happened to tell me she casted for ‘Real World’. It didn’t take me too long to get her number. She said she would look at my submission personally.

I was crazy excited.

After I submitted my details I got to talk to Sara more. I found out she was not just a casting rep but a psychologist, and certified doctor. I was blown away!

She was so young, cool and had incredible insights into my life. I was in my early 20's and was absolutely fascinated by what she could tell about me (she obviously catered to my narcissistic lifestyle). I had never met a stranger like her who could tell so much about me.

And, she did personally look into my submission but I failed to make the cut as I had been currently living in Manilla, Philippines when they tried to contact me (a whole separate blog post).

But, it was then that I learned about the super power of listening and understanding human behaviour, from a ‘Real World’ casting agent named Sara.

This takes me back to why I noticed the configuration of our users at the co-working space. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to get to know each other, it was that they simply had not been introduced. They had yet to share any interests and I had yet to hear/listen to their story.

These are a few things you can do to think like a human observationist, some call them psychologist.

1. Study the co-workers / users through questions. What do they like? What is their business and business goals? Sports, food, interests, family, birth order and get into some personality observations (these are my favourite). These will all help you to deliver a better experience for them.
2. After you study, test their behaviours. What do I mean? Find out what motivates them so you can help them. The more you help your users, the more they will help you. Are they hungry around 2pm? Why don’t you provide snacks in exchange for Check-ins, Tweets or Tags? Do they like to drink beer or wine? Provide drinks on Thursday/Friday to get them talking to each other about their business and more importantly, life.
3. Love them — Encourage them in their efforts. Watch what they are creating, find out where you can see their work. From a social perspective, intentionally follow their tweets, instagram feed, pinterest and Facebook page. Comment when you can, like and share. Show up to events they are promoting or design piece exhibitions. Become their greatest promoter and they will become your most loyal supporter.

(This is part 2 in a series of posts to help co-working spaces build better brand equity).