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Managing groups: Bonding through negativity

General Hostel Operations

Josh started this discussion 15 years 8 months ago

"Bonding through negativity" is something that I've seen poison a couple of workplaces.

Bonding through negativity is when you get a couple of people in a group who try to find common ground by talking badly about other people or things. They'll always try to push the conversation into something negative.

I've seen good employees turn really bad once they started hanging out with a person who is willing to play the bonding through negativity game with them. It's usually started by one or two people, and then other people in the group get drawn into it because they're following what the other people are doing.

I think the solution is either to try to move the conversations into being more positive, talking with the instigators about it (if they're sensible, they will realize what they're doing and hopefully stop), or if nothing else works, even fire the instigator(s) before the entire work environment gets poisoned by employee feuds, pointless drama, negative gossip and politics.

Have you seen this in staff before, and how did you handle it?

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gordo

15 years

i've definately seen it but not here.

politics in ANY workplace is a nightmare, when you've got people living, working and partying together in a relatively confined space, it can get pretty nasty.

i have had to tell a few people (coworkers, bosses, employees) to keep their personal opinions of people to themselves and concentrate on their work relationship if i see it getting negative. there is something odd about saying to your boss 'just because you dont like them, doesnt mean theyre not good at their job'... but ive had a couple of crappy bosses in the past too...

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Rucksack Brian

15 years

politics in ANY workplace is a nightmare, when you've got people living, working and partying together in a relatively confined space, it can get pretty nasty.

Throw in a pinch of romantic intra-office drama and you can count down the seconds until the time bomb explodes.

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Rucksack Brian

15 years

I think the solution is either to try to move the conversations into being more positive, talking with the instigators about it (if they're sensible, they will realize what they're doing and hopefully stop), or if nothing else works, even fire the instigator(s) before the entire work environment gets poisoned by employee feuds, pointless drama, negative gossip and politics.

If the negativity is surrounding the working environment itself, try a boost of group morale. An outing might be just what everyone needs to get away from their responsibilities and remember that they actually like each other. A dinner is easy to organize. So is a margarita night. Spring for a few hours of bowling and beer, and you might see a change of attitude. (This all assumes you catch it early on. If it goes on too long then this could turn into a reward for bad behavior.)

If the negativity is surrounding something outside the working environment, try giving your staff tasks to do to keep their minds occupied and/or separate them from negative influences. If you're lucky enough to have warm weather, send them outside for something. They can run errands, light up a BBQ, whatever. Even if the job their have to do is dumb, just being in the sun may help change their attitude for a while.

Some people just complain so they have something to say. Sadly there's only a very fine line between recreational bitching and contagious negativity.

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gordo

15 years

Throw in a pinch of romantic intra-office drama and you can count down the seconds until the time bomb explodes.

its like a real life soap-opera... except we need more mystery pregnancies and comas.

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