Symposium Summary:

An essential goal of large associations, such as IPPA, is to facilitate collaboration among diverse professionals such as researchers, practitioners, and students, to further their field of inquiry, such as positive psychology. Though IPPA can boast about its impressive membership, a 2017-member survey indicated that over 36% of members expressed sentiment of being somewhat satisfied to somewhat dissatisfied. When asked why they joined, the desire to participate in a professional positive psychology community was the third most cited reason, behind professional development and access to leading researchers and practitioners. Recognizing the desire to increase belonging, the IPPA Work & Organization Division created a Community of Practice to foster meaningful connections (Stephens, Heaphy, & Dutton, 2012; Seligman, 2018), explore topics in Positive Organizational Psychology to deepen learning, and build a supportive and generous community that exchanges ideas and learns together (Edmondson, 1999). The first phase of this community of practice occurred in 2021-22 with two groups of six IPPA Work & Organization members, facilitated by two co-facilitators. The feedback from participants was unanimously positive. The second phase being implemented in 2022-23 has expanded to four groups with approximately 10 professionals per group being led by two co-facilitators. For a six-month period, the curriculum of six structured sessions supports meaningful connection, creating psychological safety to foster trust and an open exchange of ideas and perspectives (Porath, 2022), learning from expert guests and peers, sharing of experiences (Van Cappellen, Edwards, & Fredrickson, 2021), and the provision of peer support through real-time case clinics. To inform program improvement, a logic model that describes the program and its intended outcomes will guide the collection of data to gather participant feedback and measure the program’s effectiveness (McGlaughlin & Jordan, 2004). The panel presentation will outline the curriculum model, its potential application in other organizations, and short-term results of our 2022-23 Communities of Practice.

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