A toxic team culture can undermine the performance, morale, and well-being of your employees. It can also damage your reputation, retention, and productivity. But how do you know if your team culture is toxic, and what can you do to improve it? In this article, we will explore some common signs of a toxic team culture, and share some tips on how to address them.
One of the most obvious signs of a toxic team culture is a lack of trust among team members. This can manifest as gossip, blame, secrecy, or sabotage. When team members do not trust each other, they are less likely to collaborate, communicate, or share feedback. They may also feel insecure, defensive, or isolated. To build trust in your team, you need to foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and respect. You can do this by setting clear expectations, providing regular updates, acknowledging achievements, and addressing issues promptly and fairly.
Trust starts at the leadership level. A leader that is not trusted will lead to behaviors on the team that break down trust. Leaders that are well connected to their teams and involved daily will recognize the genuine efforts whereas leaders that are disconnected from the day to day will not be able to identify the high performers and will often reward the wrong team members. This type of absent leadership can quickly tear down the morale of the team and foster manipulative behavior as individuals attempt to win favor and get ahead.
Gossip often exacerbates toxicity in a workplace, and it may be helpful to facilitate a dialogue between team members engaging in gossip. The facilitator should cultivate a safe space where team members can speak to each other directly and articulate their concerns (rather than gossiping). A truthful dialogue can create space for healing, validation, restoring respect, and rebuilding trust.
Toxic team dynamics are the WORST! Here's what you see in them: - Afraid to reveal weaknesses - Refuse to ask for help - Little to no accountability - Can't have difficult conversations and healthy conflict - Selfish attitudes - Create ambiguity because they can't fully work through items - Backstab each other - Fail to get things done because of lack of commitment Just to name a few! How can you address them? 1) Get the right people on the bus that fit your culture and values. If they're not a fit, get rid of them. 2) See Step 1!
Understanding your audience and learning who people are and what they are motivated by. In my experience, if you can connect with people you work with and understand why they come to work everyday, you can understand how to make them WANT to come to work for YOU everyday.
Lack of trust amongst team members can be amplified if there is a lack of trust amongst leadership. Because that lack of trust trickles down to respective team members, and encourages a tribal you vs me mindset. My strong belief: if there are trust issues within the top layer, then toxic culture spreading throughout the organization is inevitable.
Another sign of a toxic team culture is poor communication within the team. This can result in confusion, misunderstanding, conflict, or missed deadlines. When team members do not communicate effectively, they are more likely to make assumptions, jump to conclusions, or ignore important information. They may also feel frustrated, ignored, or unappreciated. To improve communication in your team, you need to establish a culture of openness, feedback, and listening. You can do this by creating channels for communication, encouraging questions, clarifying goals, and soliciting input.
Letting an Elephant remain in the room stifles communication and teamwork. Teams must identify the elephant and tame it by talking about it. Get it out in the open.
Disengaged, unaware leadership. It is difficult for toxic team cultures to occur when there are engaged, empathetic, positive leaders involved. The oxygen for toxicity is leaders hyper focused on their goals, at any cost. When leaders model empathy, care, and concern, while promoting balance and reciprocal relationships, toxicity struggles to exist. An aware, engaged leader roots out toxicity and works to eliminate its symptoms. However, when people sense the leaders don't care, they will not care. When people sense leaders promote cliques and show favoritism, they will follow suit.
practicing good communication is so important! it's true, sometimes the story we tell ourselves isn't actually been told to others. That brings a crucial point, whatever new you are working on, the updates, the results and insights, even the drawbacks or problems it's a good practice to have clear communication with the team. Oftentimes we have executed an initiative and no one has a clue about it. Good Comms also ensures team members feel involved and engaged. After all we are not just working for ourselves but over for the organisation.
Leaders thwart toxicity by prioritizing care and fairness. When fairness is neglected and favoritism creeps in, toxicity flourishes.
It is up to the leader to foster a team culture of collaboration. Leaders that frequently engage the team, not just in meetings but during the day to day, will have a better connection with the team and be able to quickly identify exclusive behaviors and ensure that all members of the team are heard, recognized, and valued.
A third sign of a toxic team culture is low engagement among team members. This can indicate a lack of motivation, commitment, or satisfaction. When team members are not engaged, they are more likely to perform poorly, disengage, or leave. They may also feel bored, unhappy, or burnt out. To increase engagement in your team, you need to create a culture of recognition, empowerment, and growth. You can do this by offering praise, recognition, and rewards, delegating tasks and responsibilities, and providing opportunities for learning and development.
When there is low employee engagement, this is normally tied to leadership gaps. Employees thrive on being connected to what is going on in their organization and understanding how they impact the bottom line. When a leader constantly communicates but most importantly continually listens to their employees, you will find that these teams are more engaged. When the feedback received from employees is used to improve day to day operations, employee resources and ensure recognition, you will find a highly engaged team!
I’ve found that directly asking a person (by name) for their input can lead to a lot of incredible ideas that would have otherwise been wasted.
Low engagement among team members is indeed a significant indicator of a toxic team culture. It suggests a lack of motivation, commitment, and satisfaction within the team. When team members are not engaged, their performance tends to suffer, and they may become disengaged or even leave the team altogether. Additionally, feelings of boredom, unhappiness, and burnout may arise. To address this issue and increase engagement, it is essential to create a culture that values recognition, empowerment, and growth. Offering praise, recognition, and rewards can help boost morale. Furthermore, providing opportunities for learning and development fosters a sense of personal growth and continuous improvement.
Engagement can be increased when you include the team in decisions that affect the team. If you involve everyone on the team and ensure that they all have a voice at the table, this will foster collaborative approaches to problem solving which encourages and recognizes engagement. When employees feel safe to share their ideas and give feedback, they will open up more and feel more comfortable.
A manager or team leader needs to remember that your people are your number one asset. They can make or break you. Learn their name, wife or husbands name or significant other. Be involved don’t make your people stay late and you go home as a leader. If you’re not interested in their work quality, why should they. And above all inspect what you expect. You cannot lead by sitting behind your desk all day get out walk around see what your people are up to be involved.
A fourth sign of a toxic team culture is high turnover within the team. This can reflect a high level of dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction, or stress among team members. When team members leave frequently, they are more likely to disrupt the workflow, continuity, and cohesion of the team. They may also take valuable skills, knowledge, and relationships with them. To reduce turnover in your team, you need to create a culture of retention, loyalty, and support. You can do this by conducting exit interviews, identifying and addressing the root causes of turnover, and offering flexible work arrangements, benefits, and wellness programs.
True, but sometimes no matter how much you reach out for help you don't get it. It is no fun working in a toxic and disrespectful place.
I have found that horrible bosses still exist and the top leaders need to be trained in emotional intelligence. Retention is solved when people feel heard, respected, and valued as an employee!
Frontline managers often find themselves in a challenging role, acting as the crucial linchpin within the organizational hierarchy. They bear the responsibility of not only communicating corp expectations & goals, but also managing employee expectations, addressing grievances, promoting cultural values, and monitoring the well-being of their teams. To excel in this multifaceted role, these managers require training, access to appropriate tools that improve employee retention, enhance productivity, and provide vital support for emotional and social well-being. Furthermore, it's imperative that orgs encourage these managers to prioritize self-care & foster open dialogue by sharing their own challenges and expectations with their leaders
In my experience high turnover is a true example of a toxic work environment. This is a result of all the previously described traits like low trust, communication, morale, etc. Behaviors like gossip and a few bad employees that do not get held accountable for their poor performance or unacceptable behavior infect all your remaining employees and instill more bad behaviors and attitudes.
According to a Gallup poll of over 1 million U.S. workers, the number one reason people leave their jobs is because of a bad boss or immediate supervisor. Another 2017 study found that 47% of people are actively seeking alternative employment because of company culture. Your turnover rates can be a huge indicator of your culture.
A fifth sign of a toxic team culture is negative attitudes among team members. This can manifest as complaints, criticism, or cynicism. When team members have negative attitudes, they are more likely to spread negativity, demoralize others, or resist change. They may also feel angry, resentful, or hopeless. To change negative attitudes in your team, you need to create a culture of positivity, optimism, and resilience. You can do this by modeling positive behaviors, celebrating successes, and providing support and resources.
While there are many ways to foster a team culture of positivity, one of the biggest things that can destroy positivity is allowing bad behavior to persist. When bad attitudes are present on the team and are not addressed quickly, this can be like a cancer that will tear down the morale of the entire team and once that happens, it is much more difficult to restore. Addressing toxic employees swiftly will not only address negativity on the team but will also build trust and create safety for everyone.
I've found fostering contagious positivity to be one of the most useful leadership techniques for bringing teams together. The challenge is to remain grounded in reality so that you're not blindly optimistic about everything, rather you can pragmatically evaluate a situation and see a future state that positively benefits your team and/or customers, while acknowledging the risks or potential cons.
As a leader you always need to be aware that you set the 'tone'. If you show negativity it will spread. One negative force can bring the whole team to the same level, no matter how positive others are.
In my opinion it is nearly always the team leaders inefficiency that leads to a toxic team culture. This can manifest in various ways. Some examples: 1. Lack of Communication: When team members don’t openly share information, ideas, or concerns, it can lead to misunderstandings and a negative environment. 2. Micromanagement: Excessive control and micromanagement stifle creativity and demoralize team members, eroding trust and autonomy. 3. Blame Game: A culture where individuals are quick to blame others for mistakes rather than focusing on collaborative problem-solving can create a toxic atmosphere.communication and collaboration. Depending upon the type of organization, the outcome can be detrimental if a Team does not work effectively.
I’ve found that positive people can lift teams while negative ones can sink them. Negativity if left unchecked can be cancerous. Identify those who possess and display negativity, promptly meet with them and try to find out why. Explain it won’t be tolerated and if it doesn’t change further action will be taken. Keep in mind your team is always watching how you deal with these situations. Inaction will lead to further bad behaviors and will demoralize those who wish you’d act.
A sixth sign of a toxic team culture is unhealthy competition within the team. This can result in rivalry, jealousy, or hostility. When team members compete in an unhealthy way, they are more likely to undermine, sabotage, or exclude others. They may also feel threatened, insecure, or inferior. To promote healthy competition in your team, you need to create a culture of collaboration, cooperation, and mutual respect. You can do this by setting team goals, rewarding team efforts, and facilitating team building activities.
A house divided can not stand. In this modern era where employees have more inclusive opinions like robust work life balance, autonomy and entrepreneurship opportunities, employers who refuse to pivot from toxic archaic strategies will continue to lose skilled talent and money. Moreover, past blueprints of unhealthy competition and punitive tactics are out. Recent data reveals, leadership humility, truthfulness, and empathetic mentoring are in. And business leaders who believe artificial intelligence is their ace in the hole, research reveals younger generations are already developing strategies to outsmart AI. So business leaders sharpen your soft skills, because your employees are & they're finding ways to monetize them without you.
When employees are pitted against each other in an unhealthy manner, it can lead to a myriad of detrimental effects. This includes increased stress levels, diminished teamwork, and a focus on personal gain at the expense of collective goals. Such an environment erodes trust among colleagues, fosters resentment, and hinders open communication. Ultimately, it can result in burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and higher turnover rates, all of which are detrimental to both individuals and the organization as a whole. Building a healthy work culture involves fostering collaboration, recognizing individual strengths, and emphasizing shared success rather than viewing colleagues as competitors.
I completely agree with this 100%, in order to promote healthy competition in your team, you need to create a culture of collaboration, cooperation, and mutual respect, by setting team goals, rewarding team efforts, and facilitating team-building activities.
In my experience, unhealthy internal competition is often caused by ownership/top management who believes that such competition solves everything, is good for their business because they are highly competitive, so everyone else should be as well. Rooting this kind of problem out of such companies is hard to do. Middle managers and working staff members can try to ignore this push for internal competition by working together in spite of what their owners/top management wants to do. For an interesting insight into this problem, read the "Think Win Win" chapter in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey.
I love this and have experience in shifting a business model from competition to collaboration. Typically privately music instructors in music stores are all independent contractors. So while friendly, they are largely competing against one another if there are multiple of the same instrument. This can also cause hard feelings when a student stops one instrument to move on to another, for example when band or orchestra begins. The music lesson studio business I created was set to change this. Musicians are natural collaborators, so why would teaching music be any different. It took some convincing people to try the new approach and to be brave. We had an amazing team and we’re definitely stronger together!
Some really simple ways that I've found helpful in staff retention are: Assuming good intent. Attention. Gratitude for a job well done. Growth with the company. The ability to have fun at work.
One of the signs that is alluded to by the other contributors but missing from the core content is "Lack of Leadership". At times the toxicity is driven from the top. If, for example, you have conflict between the leaders of two different functions, it may will trickle down through the organization. Many high level execs want to avoid conflict resolution because they're focused on results or don't feel it's their job. What they miss is that the amount of energy that the org puts into dealing with drama is energy that won't go into driving results. Addressing conflict at the top will help stem toxic behaviors that play out throughout the org. Orgs must learn to focus on solving problems, not personalizing issues and engaging in drama.
The saddest and most frustrating piece of this puzzle is when employees share their feelings of a toxic environment to the 'right' personnel in hopes to see improvement in communication and trust from the top down. Instead of receiving comfort when they reach out, they are met with denial. Too often, the CEO and executive team feel like they know and understand their team culture when they are actually clueless. THEY feel things are going well because that is what they want to believe. Most employees, if confonted, will not be truthful because they are so frightened by upper management. Count me out.
Mark Mortenson came up with these attributes of the toxic workplace (in the Harvard Business Review): *disrespectful *noninclusive *unethical *cutthroat *abusive I prefer to root these conversations in data wherever possible, and this is a good definitive jumping off point.
What about lack of recognition? If you are consistently performing at a level higher than what current expectations are for your role or job duties and leadership does not recognize the contributions...this can lead to fostering negative attitudes, a lack of enthusiasm to collaborate or excel and then quiet quitting.