Leave the Drama at the Door: Fostering a Focused Workplace
A successful workplace cultivates a positive atmosphere on a routine basis during working hours.
Regardless of the scale of a practice, colleagues interact with each other quite intimately and know a considerable amount about their coworkers’ lives outside of work. Typically, the foundation of relationships with coworkers is positive, but an individual with external conflicts can play a role in reducing team harmony and creating barriers that weaken bonds among team members.
This is where the quick acknowledgement of a struggling individual’s needs needs to be met quickly, so that the trickle-down effect is avoided. You want to ensure that negativity is not allowed to grow unchecked, as it has the potential to compromise the day for everyone.
The Intersection of Personal and Professional Lives
As employees, we all have private lives outside of the office. Nobody should underestimate the impact of what occurs outside of working hours. Home life has its challenges, but if left unchecked, it can spill over into the workplace unintentionally with a very negative impact. Innocent bystanders are typically the doctor, coworkers, and, potentially, patients.
When an employee plows through the door at work with an attitude and a state of mind that is toxic to the work environment, before you know it, they set the tone for the day due to their lack of self-awareness and the impact on others.
The two worlds we travel between, being personal and professional, are connected, whether we like it or not. As managers in leadership roles, it typically falls on us to address issues with employees who are unable to recognize the negative effects of their behavior, and therefore, we step up to help redirect them in constructive and positive ways.
Maintaining Professionalism Despite Personal Challenges
Personal challenges should never become everyone’s problem. They belong solely to the employee and not to everyone in the shared workspace, but even more importantly, not to the business’s customers. Once the time clock shows that the employee has clocked in, their attention and energy need to be focused on the job with a positive mindset.
It is beneficial for the employee to redirect their attention away from this possible painful reality in their personal life and take the opportunity to excel professionally in their respective position at work.
There is an appropriate time and place for dealing with personal atrocities, but when you clock into work, that time is not the present. If the employee can’t engage appropriately, then it may be beneficial to suggest they take the day off to regroup in an empathetic conversation that defines the reality of their disposition and actions, as well as their impact on the team.
It is also important to establish that negative behaviors in the workplace will have repercussions and not be tolerated.
Prioritizing Customer Experience
An employee should also never discuss a patient’s personal life issues in the workplace. If this occurs, the customer may quickly realize that they are not a priority and may not feel safe due to the employee’s state of mind.
Critical to a business and its reputation is the fact that people remember how they were treated and what happened during the visit, whether positive or negative. Being self-absorbed will hinder your ability to read the room and respond accordingly.
Errors in patient care due to loss of focus cannot be tolerated in the short term or long term. If the disengagement isn’t eradicated, then sadly, it may be best to let that team member go before irreparable damage occurs.
Management’s Role in Addressing Workplace Behavior
As a manager, this means it’s our job to interject and see if we can help offer a solution without prying and demanding any personal information. Rather, it’s redirecting in a private and respectful manner. You want to encourage some introspection and remind them of the culture of the practice where they work.
Managers need to explain why professional credibility is necessary internally and externally. We ask that employees arrive in a predictable and positive manner if they plan to show up for work, clock in, and get paid.
It must be explained that they owe it to the practice that employs them, as well as their coworkers, when they walk through the door. When their foot lands inside the office, it should be the professional one, and all personal baggage stays outside the door.
A positive attitude is an intentional choice and a true sign of a professional.
There is never a second chance to make a positive impression at the start of each day. The consequence is that anything to the contrary can create a toxic atmosphere that will not be allowed to spread and affect the team’s morale and productivity.
Building a Supportive Yet Boundary-Conscious Culture
As organizations, we want to offer a safe workplace where everyone feels cared for.
As leaders, we are the front line to building genuine relationships with the humans on our teams and showing empathy. This doesn’t mean we don’t need to set boundaries, but the first approach should be led by reflecting on how we want to be treated when facing peaks and valleys in our personal lives.
Remind coworkers that they are stronger than they give themselves credit for. If they concentrate on making baggage drop at the door part of their daily routine, everyone will benefit from that self-awareness.
About the Author
Lisa Scheer, MAADOM
Lisa Scheer has been in the dental industry for over thirty years. Almost all of her years have been spent in the Endodontic Specialty.
Lisa has been with her current office for 24 years and demonstrates a strong love for those she works with, and she loves what she does.
Outside the office, she focuses on her family and a very special little boy that she spoils rotten—her grandson. Having lost both her parents to cancer early on, she truly lives each day to its fullest, knowing the next isn’t promised.
