How to Eliminate Negativity Within a Team
Mark Wager is one of the world’s top leadership experts. He will be visiting Fiji this weekend and then in June. If you would like him to train your managers he can be contacted at Mark@ALI. org.nz
Have you ever worked in an environment where everyone seems to be unhappy and are just constantly moaning? YOUR JOB IS DIFFICULT NOT BECAUSE of the nature of the work you do, but because of the people you work ALONGSIDE, THE UNNECESSARY OFFICE politics and back stabbing.
If this sounds familiar then you will be fully aware of how such a work culture can impact the quality of your work.
It’s almost impossible to do your best work when you are working in such an environment and it’s just AS DIFFICULT IF YOU HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY of leading a team with this negative culture.
In this weeks article I want to EXPLORE THIS SPECIFIC CHALLENGE OF HOW a leader can turn a negative team into a positive team.
Negativity is better than apathy
When you have a negative team, it can seem like there’s nothing worse, but there is and that is a TEAM FILLED WITH APATHY.
If you give me two teams, one which is very negative and the other in which the members of the team just don’t care then I can say without question the negative team has a better chance of long term success because people are only negative about things that matter to them.
Just look at sports and how fans of a team can turn incredibly negative when the team is performing badly yet when results are going their way the same fans become their most passionate supporters. Negative people are passionate, you just need to direct that passion in a different way.
Acknowledge the past but focus on the future
IT CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO LET things go, when some feels like they have been treated unfairly or let down those feelings of resentment can stay with a person long after the people responsible for those offences have left.
If you are a leader with this type of TEAM, YOUR FIRST ACTION WILL DEPEND on whether you are the cause of the resentment or if it’s historical and you have inherited the team.
Firstly let’s start with the inherited scenario. If people are talking about the past then acknowledge what has happened, but don’t debate it.
The longer you spend talking about the past, the more likely people will stay there; people need to move on and you won’t be able to provide the resolution they need so the best thing you can do is to focus
on the future.
So when the past is mentioned acknowledge, but then move the conversation to what is about to happen.
It’s alright for a leader to say sorry
Now let’s look at if you as a leader are responsible for some part for the feeling of negativity, this will open up a lot of debate about who did what and who takes the blame, but if you want to move forward then it’s up to the leader to take on the responsibility.
I know some leaders are wary of apologising because they don’t want to be perceived to be weak, but this is just an excuse.
Saying sorry shows humility and humility is the most important quality in leadership.
Here is the thing, no one expects a leader to be perfect they just expect them to do their best.
Apologise even if your intent was good and start moving people forward, don’t keep on apologising because you end up keeping people in the past.
Apologise once and make it good and then move on.
Set a new standard of behaviours
The key to creating any positive work culture is to set the right standard of behaviours because if the behaviours are right the results take care of themselves.
People need to know what is required not only in their work but also in their interactions with their work colleagues.
A positive team requires team players and it’s the leaders responsibility to explain how a good team player behaves and don’t assume it’s obvious because it’s not, you have it make it clear, think about how you want people to conduct themselves at meetings, how you want people to behave when they see someone else make a mistake, who they talk to when they have a complaint about something or someone?
Discover change champions
People within a team are more INFLUENCED BY THEIR CO-WORKERS THAN their manager – yes the manager sets the example, but those within a team copy the behaviours of those around them.
If most people within a team are negative then slowly everyone becomes negative because that is what the team deems as acceptable behaviour and people will change THEIR OWN BEHAVIOUR IN ORDER TO FIT within the teams behaviours.
This is why as a leader you need to lead through others, identify those few people, maybe just one or two who will listen to you and set the new standard that the team REQUIRES. IT’S VERY DIFFICULT TO BE NEGATIVE when you are sitting next to
someone who is positive.
Criticise individuals and never the group
The most common mistake I see leaders make when they are trying it change a team culture is that they criticise the team rather than individuals.
This is understandable when it’s the whole team that is making the same mistake, but when you criticise the team all you do is reinforce the wrong group mentality, instead you need to criticise individuals and not in front of other people. People will change their attitude when there’s personal responsibility and personal accountability. This can only happen when the leader addresses the members of their team as individuals making them personally accountable for their actions.
There’s no doubt that this creates a great deal of work for the leader, BUT THERE’S NO QUICK FIX TO CHANGE A negative workplace it requires a lot of work, a lot of conversations and a lot of leading by example, but no one has ever said success is easy. Remember just like a sports team if you can turn around the team and start turning losing into wins then the biggest critics within your team will become your biggest supporters.
Just look at sports and how fans of a team can turn incredibly negative when the team is performing badly yet when results are going their way the same fans become their most passionate supporters. Negative people are passionate, you just need to direct that passion in a different way.