I was asked the other day to provide some advice about what are the key factors which contribute to workplace dysfunction, and it got me thinking. Let’s start defining ‘workplace dysfunction’ as all of those disputes, disagreements, complaints, grievances and relationship breakdowns that make individuals and teams less productive.
Teams with workplace dysfunction are commonly referred to (often by the people working in them) as toxic workplaces. They typically have low engagement scores and various other people metrics that point towards a problem. These metrics might include high unplanned leave usage, people calling in sick on a Friday or a Monday, unresolved interpersonal issues, inappropriate behaviours, complaints and counter-complaints, poor attendance in the office, reduced productivity, high turnover and disproportionately high numbers of injuries (often psychological).
There will often be a range of more subtle signs too. Team meetings can either be a celebration of silence where nobody but the boss does the talking, or they could be an explosive all-out melee between factions in the team. There might be gossip, people might hoard information, some might deliberately exclude others from key meetings, individuals will get into passive aggressive email exchanges and copy in all the bosses.
Teams like this are horrible to work in. If you have ever had the misfortune of working in one then you know what I’m talking about. You dread going in on a Monday, the week drags by like a microwave minute (the longest minute in the world) and by Friday afternoon you just want to curl up in a ball with a blanket and a bottle and tell your poor dog all about your horrible week. Working in this team is a slow death, it impacts your health, your relationships and will consume your thoughts and your energy even when you are not at work.
So what is the actual problem here?
I think it’s that people don’t talk to each other anymore. We text, email or Teams message each other. We ZenDesk, Twilio, RocketChat, Jabber, MirrorFly, Slack Chat, WeChat or WhatsApp each other but we don’t talk. In fact, you could argue that technology means that we are communicating more than ever but very few of us are actually talking to each other.
Not only do we not talk anymore but I think we might have forgotten how to talk to each other. In the workplace these days I see managers booking meetings that should be emails and sending emails when they should be meeting. Managers are unsure and insecure about having a conversation with their employee about behaviour, conduct or performance and so they send an email instead. Imagine getting an email from the boss outlining concerns they have with your performance? What does that do to your engagement?
Managers think that by committing everything to email they will protect themselves down the track, they’ll have the documentary evidence to demonstrate that they followed due process, that they ticked all the boxes. There was however one box that they didn’t tick and that’s the relationship box.
If we consider that we are in a relationship with everyone at work, and that these relationships are if not life-long then at least long term, then wouldn’t we be smart to take care of them, nurture them and make sure they grow into healthy strong relationships? If you have read any of my other articles you will probably have come across this before…
“Every interaction is an opportunity to either build the relationship or to damage it. Which way do you want it to go?”
There are a whole bunch of reasons why managers aren’t having the conversations at work that they should be having. I’m not going to go into all of them but know that every single one of them is nothing more than an excuse.
If you take the approach that you are looking to build the relationship with your employee, and that you genuinely want them to be better at their job or behave differently in the workplace for improved outcomes, then having the conversation is the quickest and easiest way to grow trust and to get the result you are looking for.
If you want to get better at having conversations with your employees about behaviours, performance or any other thing then reach out to your Workplace Coach. We are all about helping leaders create workplaces where people thrive.
The Workplace Coach 
Leave a comment