We’ve all experienced the colleague who brings the mood down, the boss who thrives on chaos, or the team member whose negativity drains the energy from the room. A toxic workplace environment is caused by the toxic behavior of employees and affects organizations around the globe. But what may not be obvious is the significant hidden cost of a toxic workplace.

Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp discussed what behaviors make an employee toxic, how personality is related to toxic behavior, and ways to respond to toxic workplace environments.

Teamwork has changed significantly in recent years, as many of us have transitioned to hybrid or remote working models. But teams haven’t disappeared; they just operate differently now. Modern team development is the key to building high-performing teams in this new landscape of work.

Derailers, in Hogan terms, are everyday personality strengths that can become overused—particularly during times of increased stress, pressure, or complacency. When we stop monitoring our strengths, our behaviors can become detrimental. Someone who tends to be supportive and loyal to authority, for example, could begin to seem excessively deferential and ingratiating. Derailment in the individual sense could hold a person back from performing well or achieving occupational goals. But what happens when the whole team derails?

Humans just don’t excel at surviving in the wild alone. We have no claws, horns, fangs, shells, or spikes. What we do have is each other—and a far higher chance of survival when we practice cooperation in groups. Our instincts for cooperation at work and elsewhere stems from our group-living ancestors who passed down their cooperative genes. To be a successful group member, we need to get along with our fellow group members, at least to some degree. This viewpoint from evolutionary theory helps explain the importance of getting along at work.

Nearly all meaningful work is accomplished in teams, which are three or more people who share a common goal. Cooperation is a choice to contribute individual effort toward mutual benefit. It involves committing time, skills, and expertise toward group goals. An example would be a software development team that builds an app for a demographic sector they don’t belong to, such as healthcare providers. The app doesn’t intrinsically benefit the developers. Instead, their earnings depend on the product they create via team cooperation.

This article will cover why we cooperate, as well as the benefits of cooperation at work, including status, acceptance, engagement, and performance.

Siguranța psihologică este confortul de a ști că nu vei fi ridiculizat sau pedepsit pentru exprimarea gândurilor, ideilor sau preocupărilor tale. Într-un mediu psihologic sigur, oamenii se simt liberi să fie ei înșiși, să își asume riscuri și să-și exprime opinii fără teama de consecințe negative. Este ca și cum ai crea un spațiu în care fiecare poate să își aducă autenticitatea la masă fără frica de judecată. Acest lucru favorizează comunicarea deschisă, creativitatea și colaborarea. Imaginează-ți o cameră confortabilă în care poți să îți împărtășești liber cele mai sălbatice idei fără teama că cineva își va revolta ochii. Acesta este principiul siguranței psihologice în acțiune.

Tania, liderul echipei, descrie un nou proces pe care trebuie să-l implementeze echipa. Fatima observă o posibilă îmbunătățire a eficienței, dar nu spune nimic. Nigel simte că nu i s-a arătat respectul cuvenit prin faptul că Tania nu l-a consultat cu privire la domeniul său de expertiză. Sam se întreabă cum va afecta acest proces celelalte echipe, dar manifestă entuziasm pentru planul Taniei. Denise crede că termenul-limită est prea strâns și întreabă dacă poate fi prelungit. Tania spune că termenul-limită este o prioritate. Ce lipsește din această echipă? Siguranța psihologică.

Procesul Taniei ar fi mult mai bun dacă Fatima și-ar împărtăși ideile, dacă Nigel și-ar aduce contribuția de conținut, dacă Sam ar adresa întrebarea despre efectul schimbării asupra celorlalți și dacă Denise ar oferi critici constructive despre implementare. Ce poate face Tania pentru a dezvolta un mediu de siguranță psihologică a echipei?

Citiți mai departe pentru a afla ce este siguranța psihologică și de ce contează atât de mult în echipe.

Tania, the team lead, lays out a new process for the team to follow. Fatima sees an efficiency improvement but doesn’t say anything. Nigel feels disrespected that Tania didn’t consult him about his field of expertise. Sam wonders how the process will affect other teams but shows enthusiasm for Tania’s plan. Denise thinks the timeline is far too tight and asks how hard the deadline is. Tania says the deadline is a priority. What’s missing from this team? Psychological safety.

“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” This quote, attributed to Helen Keller, is as true today as it was in the 1920s. A cohesive team is one of the most effective ways to accomplish work and achieve goals. Virtual team-building activities for bringing remote teams and hybrid teams together encourage successful collaboration and employee engagement.

2020 va ramane cu siguranta un an de cotitura in istorie. Cu evenimente neasteptate, fara precedent, pe multiple planuri, cu puternice si subtile implicatii pe termen scurt si lung. Am fost pusi in fata unor situatii care ne-au schimbat tututor maniera in care privim lumea, intelegerea asupra a ceea ce putem controla si ce nu, modul in care ne raportam la noi insine, la munca, la viata, in general, si la cei din jur.

Am invatat, mai mult sau mai putin, sa traim cu incertitudinea, sa planuim pas cu pas, pe termen scurt, sa ne adaptam unui mod de lucru care este in curs de asezare, sa reprioritizam, sa ne acceptam umanitatea, trauma traita colectiv si personal, vulnerabilitatea mai mult decat vreodata in vremurile «certe».

Liderii au fost nevoiti mai mult ca niciodata sa se adapteze unor realitati complet noi, sa iasa din zona de confort, sa aiba grija de oameni si de business asa cum nu au mai fost nevoiti vreodata sa o faca. In acest context, calitatea celor care sunt la putere conteaza mai mult ca oricand pentru ca afacerile sa supravietuiasca, sa se rearticuleze, sa performeze, pentru ca oamenii sa isi mentina nivelul de energie, motivatie si angajament.

Earlier this year, before the global pandemic, I returned to the office after an extended business trip. When I walked into the building, the environment felt different. The building was the same, the furniture was where it had been before, and my colleagues were still the same lovely people, but the atmosphere felt somewhat unfamiliar. It was because there had been a break in my routine. Humans are creatures of habit — we rely on routines to help us manage our busy schedules, remain productive, and keep us sane. When our routines change, we must adapt, create new strategies, or run the risk of being ineffective, unproductive, or even misaligned.