The next step, on Toxicity at Work
The tools and actions at our disposal
Hey, fellow Leader 🚀,
I am Artur and welcome to my weekly newsletter. I am focusing on topics like Project Management, Innovation, Leadership, and a bit of Entrepreneurship. I am always open to suggestions for new topics. Feel free to reach me on Substack and share my newsletter if it helps you in any way.
This article is a continuation of a topic followed previously, regarding toxicity in the work environment. You can read the first article on the link below.
The goal of this article is to go through the two remaining points from the original post, and possibly the most important ones. The possible actions we all can do in an event of toxic behaviours:
The tools to address the toxicity
What can we do as colleagues?
Let’s get started, shall we?
The tools available to address the toxicity at work
The tools available below might not be easy to use, since the topic is complex and can easily become very specific for a context. Nevertheless, toxicity can be imprinted deep in the organization. If something happens that you find suspect (or is toxic), the first move would be to address the situation directly, and in private, with the person you feel behaved incorrectly. This might not be an easy step to take depending on if there are hierarchical differences between both parties. However, if one of the parties is in a senior position but conducting incorrectly, the responsibility and impact of a simple concerned voice, is bigger than we initially realize. So, if something happens in a way that doesn’t feel right, my recommendation for the initial step would be to address that in a private conversation with the other party.
The goal of these private conversations is to set some boundaries of course, but at the same time identify what is missing on the team or organization for the specific scenarios to happen.
In a previous company, I had an example of a specific senior architect who was known to be grumpy and difficult to have a conversation with. After some back and forth in private conversations and public discussions, it was made evident that he was overworked and he was the only person who knew how a certain component worked inside the product. We suggested having special training done for all staff to help everyone to address common issues and struggles, avoiding the need to contact our “favourite” architect all the time. Because he was the only person who had the expertise, he needed to handle all questions, doubts, and existential problems of all the parties in regards that specific component. The component was a black box for 99% of the organization, and was recurring the stories of not conducting himself respectfully. Since it was a critical component, he was under a lot of pressure with a lot of people trying to reach him for trivial and important problems, which made him a very difficult person to dialogue with at a professional level. The idea of the training was rejected (because his leadership was weak and didn’t care less, as it was part of the problem). Despite this failed story, the goal is to have a proactive approach to understand what is wrong with a given person and propose what can be done to improve the conditions to work with that person.
If we are talking about a lack of respect and plain insulting behavior, the solution is to go straight to leadership or\and the HR department (if the organization has it) to have the situation sorted out. Of course, if the plea or complaint is not been handled respectfully, is a matter of time before the problem will only exponentiate out of proportion.
If the goal is to go forward with a formal complaint, is important to have the facts straight. A usefull technique is to write down all the situations in chronological order, to provide a linear perspective of a given event. By writing the story, it helps to build a thought narrative and construct an image for taking the main key points that are relevant to the case.
However, before proceeding with a formal complaint, I would recommend asking for advice from someone who will be handling the situation (For example, the HR department or the direct manager). The idea here is to have a second pair of eyes and provide advice on what should be the next steps. The recommendation would be to start small, gather the information from the situation and peers, and go step by step with the appropriate channels.
What can we do as colleagues?
Firstly, provide support for the person who might be suffering some sort of toxicity. Providing an opportunity for the person to share what is happening and what is going through and provide help or advice.
If you witness improper behavior that contributes negatively to the work environment, I would recommend having a private conversation with the parties who you feel are incorrect. On this point, there is no need to act as a police and state the consequences of the actions. The most important would simply say why you think the situation was inappropriate and if possible propose any sort of the solution after understanding the why.
However, if a given scenario is so wrong from a moral and professional standpoint, please check with the proper channels inside the organization (your direct manager or the HR department) for advice.
However, not all toxic behaviors are HR and Manager escalation-ready or even need to go so far. Some might be smaller events, for example making fun of someone in the workplace. For these kinds of situations, what we can do is not take part in these negative behaviors. By just not feeding the situation with more bad behaviors, simply by dismissing it, or just saying you don’t agree with the assessment. The small actions might go far in promoting a good working environment.
Your turn!
What would be your pieces of advice for avoiding toxic behaviors? Do you have a story you would like to share in the comments?
That’s it. If you find this post useful please share it with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in this topic. If you would like to see a different angle, suggest in the comments or send me a message on Substack.
Cheers,
Artur