They successfully thrive in most offices. You can find traces of them near the coffee pot or in the company breakroom. They like to huddle in corners and scurry when you turn on the lights. Who are they? Negative employees!
Most organizations at some level have negative employees. These are the eternal pessimists who have the amazing ability to extract the worst attributes from any situation. These employees are typically unfriendly, love to build “pessimist coalitions” in the office (misery loves company), and complain regularly about the most minute and insignificant issues. What’s most interesting about some of these individuals is their unwillingness to offer solutions to the very issues they are concerned about.
As a manager, it’s important to resolve negativity in the workplace because it will affect the morale of your team or department. And morale, as we all know, is directly correlated to the level of output from your staff. So, as a manager, what can you do to reduce the negative atmosphere in the office? The questions below will hopefully assist you in assessing and creating procedures to combat negativity. Also, in these questions, we will analyze negativity using a “virus” metaphor to emphasize how negativity is affecting and spreading to members of your team.
- Why are they negative? – Believe it or not, there could actually be a legitimate reason for the not so positive attitude of your team. Have you suddenly increased their workload? Is there a threat of downsizing? As a leader, it’s important that you don’t dismiss the concerns of your employees as typical staff grumblings. Why? Because those “grumblings” may be a foreshadowing of much larger issues to come.
- How did they get infected? – What specific event (or series of events) caused the negative attitude(s) in your department? If you can isolate this variable, you will later be able to apply the correct anecdote for that specific problem.
- How is this infection passed to others? – Does it occur through verbal communication, electronically or by other means?
- Who’s currently infected? – This is an important point. Before you can resolve the issue you need to know who is infected and to what degree. Their “infection level” will determine the amount and frequency of the correct dosage of the solution that needs to be administered.
- How long have they been infected? – This is another important point to help you resolve the issue of negativity in the workplace. If the issue of negativity has existed in the department for months or years, then you must allow for an equal amount of time to resolve the problem. As an added note, keep in mind that most issues relating to negativity/poor attitude can be resolved and dismissal should be an absolute last resort after all other remedies have been exhausted.
- Why do outbreaks occur? – What specific events cause a sudden spark in negative communication and poor morale?
- When do outbreaks occur? – Is there a specific time or date where negativity increases (e.g., end of the month, end of the quarter, end of the fiscal year, etc.).
- Where do outbreaks occur? – Do these outbreaks occur in certain sections of your department or is it a department-wide issue? Again, you are trying to further isolate the problem.
- How has the management team contributed to the outbreak? – This may be difficult to read, but how has your behavior directly or indirectly contributed to the undesirable behavior of your team? Think objectively about this question.
- What is the solution? – Now that you’ve answered the questions above, begin to make a list of the necessary actions you will implement to correct the issue. For example, is the workload distributed unevenly or unfairly? Have your team members submit a list of their work tasks in a given week so that you can analyze if changes need to be made. Do you find that gossip or negative conversations erupt after staff meetings? Take that time to have an exhaustive Q & A session after each meeting to answer all questions and alleviate any concerns.
What have you done to reduce negativity in your department? Share your comments below. Also, if you enjoyed this post, share it with your community using the social media icons found on this page.