We have our perceived evidence and feel compelled to vocalize to any who will listen.
And usually this rant takes place behind someone’s back.
And here’s the thing – it gets around.
The irony is that this behavior often ends up being more damaging than the coworker’s behavior that we believe needs to improve.
It would be easy to read this right now and think “I don’t do that.”
And for most of us maybe we don’t, or do we?
There are degrees.
Perhaps none of us are bitingly negative or harsh.
Yet are we certain that we do not find ourselves with perceptions, conclusions, opinions, and criticism about others that we share when they aren’t around?
This is an important question to answer for ourselves individually, and as a team working together.
Because left unanswered we can very easily slide into habits of communication that create distractions, divisions, drama and confusions. (refer back to line 4)
Every remark along those lines moves us one step farther away from team unity.
We need to prioritize how we will operate together.
How we will navigate the tough organizational challenges and not pull our teams apart?
We need to clearly define what behaviors bring us together and allow us to build trust and which ones do not.
We need to do this in our teams.
It’s so tempting when someone needs to improve, and their manager is slow to talk to them, that we start talking poorly about both the manager and employee.
Let’s not be that place.
We need to respect, appreciate, and help where we can.
Not spread around irritation, annoyance and disappointments.
Co-op is another word for unity.
Unity is us all pulling together even amidst our tough moments.