There must be something in the water? In the recent few months, the environments at some businesses appear to have an increase in what most of the leadership refers to as “Drama.” The little and sometime larger interactions between team members which are counter productive to the mission of the team and to some degree teeters on the edge of bullying or some form of undesirable interpersonal transactions. There is no way to figure out what the trigger is for this perceived increase in “drama” distraction is but if not dealt with it can fester into a significant culture shift and do some more permanent damage to the company environment.
There will always be differing views of situations within the structure of the organization. The difference is – how is the culture/environment set up to navigate these differences. Is the culture such that when an alternate view is expressed is it constructive or destructive in nature? Is the view addressing the subject matter or is it attacking the person(s) involved with the situation? Too often the situation view skips the subject matter content and moves directly to the players involved. Rather than a reasonable insight being shared to constructively question or challenge how or what is being done or not done, the directive action is pointed at the people involved.
This induces “Drama” into the business environment rather than a more developmental approach of constructive insights. Let’s be frank – when you bring people directly into the matter “drama” happens. If the environment is such that we start with the content/context of the situation there is a higher probability the discussion can be constructive rather than destructive. When we stay in the constructive mindset not only can the content/context of the situation be improved but the individuals involved in the situation are given the opportunity for self-improvement. In “Drama” situation the real people are closed down to growth as they focus on building their defense systems against the perceived attack.
Part of this dynamic in the workplace is cultivated by the digital world we exist in. The world of social media provides a venue to big time “Drama” and allows for attack mode without consequences. This 24/7 environment has permeated our society and thus leaks into the businesses culture. As leaders we make elections to either ignore these or we can be leaders and step up and define the “Purpose and Core Values” that your organization will adhere to. They might not be welcome or favorable by some who currently are part of your team but when you line them up – the team members and the breaches in the core values you will find that just maybe the violators are the ones which are out of alignment with the company culture.
It is very difficult to place a firm number on the cost of “Drama” on your bottom line. If you are up to the challenge, for the next week, simply capture the number of events, time, distractions in your organization which you become aware that would potentially fall into the non-productive time of “Drama.” Let’s say that each day you witness or are made aware of 10 minutes of drama for each person on your team. (you might be thinking that is a lot of time each day but if you measure it you might be surprised) If your team has 10 people involved then each and every day you have over 100 minutes of nonproductive waste. On a 5-day work week that adds up to 500 minutes or over a full day of lost contribution. 50 weeks each year and we have 50 days of lost/nonproductive “Drama.” If the general hourly wage is around $15/hour you have over $6,000 of money just lost. This is a highly conservative value in that real “drama” typically impact a worker far longer than 10 minutes per day. It can impact performance for days, weeks and even months. It can become so pervasive that staff quit, and you are then placing more and more time and resources into recruiting, hiring, training etc.
As a leader in the business world, you do have an opportunity to engage in a culture of Constructive Conflict and conversation rather than allow for “Drama” and the resulting impact it has on the growth of your business. Give your Promise Guide a call to start a constructive conversation about evolving your business culture to live and breathe on a true Purpose and Core Values. – JKL Associates – MI – (313) 527-7945 FL – (407) 984-7246.
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Celebrating 30 years of Delivering on “Promises”
