Don’t Let Negativity Spread

Almost every team has one: the negative personality whose poison is starting to affect everyone. Whether it’s snide comments in team meetings, passive-aggressive information withholding, or acid emails, a negative team member can quickly cause irreparable damage to productivity, comradery, and, eventually, retention.

But containing  – or removing – a toxic team member can be a long and exhausting process. It’s especially difficult if the negative person is a top performer. (In fact, performance can mask toxic behavior for a long time; managers are reluctant to antagonize someone who may be carrying a team.) But the long view matters more; you may never know how much performance you’re losing from team members who are discouraged, bullied, and even driven from the company by bad behavior.

So it makes sense to address the problem right away, before more damage is done. You have to consider the possibility that you’re part of the problem. If you’re risk averse, you may have preferred to look the other way rather than take on a difficult personality.

Your HR department should be able to help you craft a script for this conversation. It starts with bringing up specific instances of behavior, delivered without strong emotion. “I noticed the other day that you spent quite a bit of time in Denise’s cubicle, and several people overheard you talking about what a terrible place this is to work. Can you tell me what’s on your mind?”

Sometimes there’s a legitimate complaint that has gone unnoticed or unresolved. Even small problems, if ignored, can fester and cause chronic complaining. If you can address the root cause of the complaint, you may be able to quell the bad behavior.

Writing for chiefexecutive.net, Anthony Innanarino says “problems don’t age well, and tiny monsters grow up to be much larger and more difficult monsters.”

He suggests bringing problems out into the open, so employees know the manager is working on them. He writes, “One strategy that can help you address a problem before it causes your team to become negative is to use a “Fire Board.” A Fire Board is a list of the problems or challenges you need to address. The list allows you to put the problems in an order of importance, working on the worst one first. By removing that problem, you prevent your team believing you don’t care, something they may believe is neglect.”

But if the complaints are not legitimate or are blown out of proportion, you’ll need to set clear expectations for changes in behavior. “Talking about these issues over and over is taking away from your productivity and that of the people you talk to. I will expect you to stop discussing this and focus on your work. If I discover that you’re still talking about this during work hours, I’ll have to document it. If you feel that this is a truly terrible place to work, you’ll have to decide if you want to stay or not. If you want to stay, you’ll need to re-focus on your work.”

Keep the focus on specific behaviors and avoid labeling them (rude, obnoxious, nasty.) You can’t control feelings, but you can expect your workers to control their actions. Tell them you’ll be watching for improvement. Monitor the employee’s behavior and make sure the problem is resolved. If it’s not, keep your word and start the process of disciplining and removing your problem.

You may need to follow up with other employees to make sure the negativity won’t keep spreading. Using the technique of becoming “curious instead of furious,” you can use questions to uncover concerns and rumors. Address them in the same way: setting clear expectations for behavior and performance, and leaving the door open for discussions about issues employees may have.

If they feel they can come to you with concerns, they will also feel empowered to tell you when a teammate is making life hard on the job.