We’ve all been there. You walk into a bank, restaurant or store and suddenly feel it, that vague sensation that all is not well. It drips from the ceilings and sits in puddles on the floor. The employees are lost in thought, unable to decide whether they’d rather be somewhere else or stay and kill each other. And you’re the lucky one bathing in all the poison they can ladle up.
Yeesh.
I hope you’ve experienced the other side, too. You walk in the door and are gobsmacked by a sense of well-being. This isn’t just a place where people work, it’s a place that WORKS. The employees want to be there and they want YOU to be there. You feel your brow relax, and the corners of your mouth head ever-so-slightly north. You don’t wanna leave.
So which of these do YOU work in? Some symptoms of “whacked-out-ness” to look for:
- People say one thing and mean another
- People give lip service to new ideas, only to undercut them in private
- Defensiveness
- Saying you’ll do something and then not doing it
- A taste for chaos
- Deflection of feedback and blame
- People pretending they “missed the memo on that one”
- Refusal to deal with conflict
- Gossip and backstabbing
If one or more of these is running rampant in your organization, it’s time to name it and address it, head-on. Do that and you’ll be well on your way to a healthy workplace that exudes a “Thank God It’s Monday”™ feeling each and every day.