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When I was studying at college, I always imagined a work that made me happy. I wanted to do something where I could make a difference. It never mattered what sector, company or profession I’d be in, but I knew I wanted to solve people’s problems, perform better and better, and learn new things everyday. In fact, if I had to describe the feeling I wanted to have about work, it was simply ‘to wake up happy and motivated.’ It might seem a bit idealistic or even too optimistic for most who just work to earn a living, make a profit and support their families, but the positive work image in my head helped me adjust rapidly to new work environments, have good relationship with colleagues and enjoy accomplishments of the team.
After having worked in different sectors and work environments, I realized that one of the most important factor that trigger performance is maintaining positivity in the workplace. Although we are professionals who go to work to fulfill tasks, it is important to remember that we are also emotional human beings who have certain likes and dislikes, good days and bad days, opinions and prejudices. Plus, each one of us is different than the other. So, an office full of employees and managers creates different energy levels on a daily even hourly basis. Some days employees are extremely tense due to tight deadlines, some other days a team could feel satisfied, after being rewarded by their boss thanks to their diligent work and some other times people within the team could have arguments they cannot resolve. They all interact within the same space acting and reacting based on certain emotions. Even as an outsider you can notice some tension, as you get in the room. For example, when you go to customer representatives’ office at the bank or visit a client at an open space office, you can easily sense stress, frustration or even fear.
Negativity is a very important factor that could ruin the organization’s unity and ability to perform. Any negative act should be taken into serious consideration. The management should first diagnose what or who causes the negativity and work on solving the problem with the cooperation of the staff involved.
What are the negative behaviors?
According to The Project Management Road Trip’s writer, J. Alex Sherrer, these are the main behaviors that result in negativity:
Complaining; bigotry; blameful; gossiping; cynicism; distrustful; vindictiveness; pessimism; jealousy; retaliation; selfishness; arrogance; judgmental; obstinate; deviousness; critical, ungracious; bullying…
As I am typing these words, I keep asking myself: Do I complain too much? Do I blame others? Do I gossip? etc… If one wants to get rid of the negative, he has to start by himself. None of us is purely positive or negative. We need to make smart decisions and impact the environment around us. In other words, we need to cultivate ourselves to be optimistic. Being optimistic should not mean overlooking mistakes and problems. Instead, we need to see them clearly and correct them in a constructive manner. Even the smallest things like our wording when we communicate with each other could change the way we feel and behave.
Sherrer gives great examples of positive and negative phrases which means exactly the same things:
The most interesting learning experience for me has been guiding children from age 9 to 15. I sometimes guide big groups of local students at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. They’re raised not to speak up and openly say their opinion. Even if they know what I ask them, they hesitate to reply. So, it is crucial for me to encourage them to answer my questions and initiate interaction for a more memorable museum tour. I usually start giving out answers, ask multiple choice questions and let them raise their hands. Whenever I start getting answers – even though sometimes they’re not exactly right – I enthusiastically say ‘it is a very good answer but here what we got is something different…’ As soon as they realize it is okay to give different answers, they’re more willing to be a part of this learning experience. The more they interact, the more they will remember and enjoy visiting museums, learning about cultures, geography and history.
In fact, this brings us to a characteristic about human nature. Since childhood we don’t like to be criticized or corrected openly, but at the same time, we need to be corrected in order to learn things right. This learning process continues regardless of age. We would like to be treated right and receive constructive feedback in order to improve in our career. Let’s not forget how we would like to get criticism and make sure to choose positive words to give feedback to others!
Ela Erozan Gürsel writes a weekly column named “Değişim Yelpazesi ” on global business trends for Dünya Gazetesi on behalf of Datassist for almost two years. Her feature topics include: green energy; climate change; impacts of financial crisis on companies, sectors and regions; innovative technologies in sciences, human resources and management; social networks transforming business and politics; changing dynamics of marketing and branding.
She also writes articles for international magazines published in Singapore.
Prior to her writing career, she worked at Datassist as a Project Manager in a project that combines human resources and mobile communications with the aim to connect blue-collar workers and employers through mobile phones. Before engaging in this exciting project, she was in pharmaceutical sales working for a multinational company. She graduated from American University, Washington, DC, majoring in International Studies with a concentration on International Business and Europe. She worked in Washington D.C. as an Account Manager at a boutique telemarketing firm that specializes in fund raising and publication renewals. She speaks Turkish, English, French, and Spanish. She currently resides in Singapore with her husband.
