Is Your Workplace Dysfunctional? What You Should Do

Is Your Workplace Dysfunctional? What You Should Do

TOXIC CULTURES: I hear a lot about “toxic cultures” when I receive a request from a new client. Leaders may believe that a few “rotten apples” are creating problems and want us to fix them; staff may view the leadership as ineffectual, dishonest and/or out of touch with the troops in the trenches.

DYSFUNCTIONAL? The Urban Dictionary has several different definitions of dysfunctional, some of which would be inappropriate for most workplaces as well as this Monday Memo! The leading one is: “To be very bad at something. Usually pertaining to sports.”

I also found this one to be useful: “Failure to grasp the consequences of a poorly thought-out decision.”

BUT THE PROBLEM IS… Generic labels about what’s dysfunctional are not useful. We can’t really fix a label; we can only fix observable behavior. When I ask clients to drill down on what they mean when they use the word “dysfunctional”, they frequently describe the same behaviors: 1) poor conflict management skills – avoiding conflict, gossiping to third parties not involved in the issue, or hurling aggressive words or actions at their adversaries; 2) poor decision-making tools and strategies; and 3) subtle kinds of bias or harassment.

Based on the work I have done with my clients and research on even the most successful organizations, most workplaces are at least somewhat “dysfunctional”. Why? Because organizations are made up of imperfect human leaders trying to lead other imperfect human beings and everyone in the system makes human errors.

What Should You Do?

FOCUS ON BEHAVIOR: As leaders or staff, we are rarely able to change labels. What we can do is influence — and perhaps change — behaviors. Labeling your organization or team is rarely helpful. Instead, describe observable behaviors that you believe need to change and the impact these behaviors has on the success of the team or organization. If there are no correlations between the behavior and the team or organizational success, stop!

SHINE A LIGHT: After you have described the behavior that’s not working, provide detailed behavioral descriptions of what behavior DOES work.

For more suggestions about encouraging behavior change, go to www.workplacesthatwork.com/resources/monday-memo-archives/

What Do You Think?

Do you believe you work for a dysfunctional organization?  Contact us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

Did You Know?

We continue to provide engaging education about these and other topics – live and online.

Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

Coaching and webinars on these and other management and leadership topics can all be delivered virtually.

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Read Lynne’s book “The Power of a Good Fight” and learn to embrace conflict to drive productivity, creativity and innovation