Why So Negative? (The Damage Negativity in the Workplace Can Do)

Moods in a workplace are contagious, same as being in a group setting in any capacity, moods transfer, its human nature. When a negative situation hits a workplace it spreads like a virus and can make a once happy, productive workspace into a low morale nightmare.

When the negativity train hits your workplace, not only can morale crash and burn but it will leave everyone pointing fingers and looking for patient zero.

Everyone has worked with or even been the negative vibe in a workplace situation, it is physically impossible to be happy in any situation all the time but what turns a negative moment into a negative environment is how the moment is handled. Not only by the person living in the moment but by the people around them.

If a negative moment hits, whether it is a staff conflict, customer interaction, scheduling issue or perceived management failings it is how the following steps taken are handled that will decide if this will be a permanent vibe or if the conflict can be resolved and everyone involved can move forward feeling like it was a fair deal all the way around.

The most common causes of negativity in the workplace are the "Why's".

"Why am I working so hard when so many others aren't? Aren't we making the same wage?"

"Why bother complaining to my boss? Nothing will ever change."

"Why can't I seem to do anything right today? Everything I do today has been wrong."

The why's build on frustrations that are already being passed around through the negativity train and before anyone knows what's going on, because there was no real management intervention and the real complaints were put to the back burner, the majority of the staff is in a negative spiral.

As managers what needs to be done is to take a real notice to the negative situations happening at work, catch them and look at them fairly and objectively. You have a worker that you know isn't pulling their weight, but because your proclamation of "Your door is always open" has put a bad taste in your staffs mouth, they feel like their real complaints don't matter or that they aren't really being heard leaves the worker not earning their keep to continue and the rest who are picking up their slack getting more and more resentful.

The best we can do in a reality where negativity is natural sometimes and staff are human, keep an eye on the circumstances around you, is this a permanent negative environment or is it just a bad day? I see what's happening that is wrong but no one is complaining directly, so I guess I don't need to deal with it? Showing your staff that you care enough to not wait for a complaint to deal with a bad situation will help bring the morale crash up and get the staff back on track.