NEGATIVITY IN THE WORKPLACE CAN BE CURED
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Hostility and negativity have your workplace seething and steaming. It is your responsibility as a team member to help make a more positive, productive and supportive atmosphere.
9 easy ways to combat negativity
No matter if you are the manager, supervisor or one of the staff it is hard to control what is causing the toxic and negativity. It may be that no one of your workmates can understand from where this bad atmosphere is coming or what makes it influence your work team.
How you approach negativity in your workplace depends first on how it started and what controls you can have no it.
Prevention is the first thing to do. Your intervention timing has an essential impact on the workplace negativity. Creating a positive workplace atmosphere is an important work to do for the manager and the HR head.
Maintaining an open door and listening to the employees’ opinions about their workplace, pay, benefits, work and overtime hours, dress codes and working conditions will help you to avoid a negative environment at the office.
In this article, I will review the options to address negativity when it already takes over your workplace. Avoiding negativity and toxic atmosphere will prevent violence in the workplace and creates positive morale and a safer workplace.
The best case scenario is when you can control and influence the toxic and negative atmosphere at the workplace. Feedback about negative rumors that you had received from your staff should be checked if it is coming from faulty information, incorrect assumptions, or deliberate misinformation.
For example:
When you learn that a new policy or procedure are not understood correctly by your people
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Your staff is misinterpreting company’s memo.
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News later or other media published some article about your industry, but your company has nothing to do with it.
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Ex-employee that was laid-off is spreading false information about your workplace.
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Under this circumstances, you have some control over the information, the situation, and the communication. You can solve the situation and correct the communication so the issue can overcome the negativity.
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You can influence and control the situation using a process of problem-solving that can have the affected people and improve the identified negative areas.
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React as hasty as you can when you determine that you have an issue with negativity. You can launch a full-scale investigation that takes so much time that it lets negativity to grow to an uncontrolled situation
These are my recommendations about how to approach the negativity quickly.
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You will need a problem-saving team made of the employees including those that are the closest to the negative issue problem-solving process.
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Analysis of the possible causes of the negativity should be made as soon as possible. It is not enough to say that there is a problem. You must identify exactly what is causing the low morale to be able to improve the morale
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Like anything in life, you need a plant and means for the execution of it. Each step of the plan will bring you closer to a positive situation at your workplace.
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I recommend you to involve as many people as you can in the action plan and its implementation.
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At the time of your problem-solving process maintain your people communicated with as much information about the negativity that you can. Do not surprise your staff, tell them what is going to be done, remember that they are your workmates and part of the whole operation. Take time to join them for discussion about fighting the negativity.
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Chosen solutions should be implemented quickly.
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Have assessments periodically about the way the plan is going.
WHEN EMPLOYEES CAN’T CONTROL WHAT IS CAUSING THE NEGATIVITY
Examples of negativity reason include:
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A downsizing of the corporation
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Mandatory overtime working;
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Hiring stopped,
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Employee furloughs,
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budget cuts; and
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Administration changes that impact the negativity of your workforce
Negative Circumstances Can Influence Positive Growth
Under the negativity circumstances, try the following ideas.
Like a good commander, look first where is your enemy, identify any aspect of the situation and face it by communicating the negative impact on your company.
Decision made in the company may influence the workforce in a way that could not be understood or predicted by the decision makers. Speaking about your ideas can help to reduce the toxic atmosphere. People will respond better to something they are informed about with an open and courageous talk.
People are communicative beings, and they need to be talked to, fell informed and updated. You need to be available to your workers, make them understand what and why are the new decisions. Be proactive have sessions with your staff, meeting out of the workplace like lunches with the boss, some people will respond better to face to face conversations.
Do not let pessimistic and negative beliefs take place in your staff minds. Do not let negative and fake news in your workplace without challenging it.
When there are true statements, present rational corporate thinking, and the information about the events that are responsible for the situation. Share all that you know about the situation building trust with the workforce.
Being connected to your people will help all of you to face the negativity with fewer difficulties. Talking about the reasons for the negativity will reduce the toxicity of the situation. People will see that what causes the negative atmosphere is not that bad, that there are ways to overcome a new reality. It may be that you will let the people that the layoff they heard about is not that massive and there are alternative jobs for those that are leaving. It may be that the over time they will have to work will be paid a nice extra and more vacation days after that the production will be completed.
Talk, talk, and talk to you people, do not leave the rumors to dominate the communication at work.
Keep your workforce informed with the real information, do not let them fall into negativity.