The quality of service offered to new and established clients is being limited by the negativity which exists in people and within your organisation. Understand its cause. Transform negativity into positive attitudes, enthusiastic ownership and inspired action -- Today!nnFear Breeds Negativity:
Some real, mostly imagined -- brought to work each morning by every staff member. Successfully managing this fear and therefore minimizing the negative impact on business performance, flings wide open the door to faster growth.
Some negativity is overt, however much of it is camouflaged. Clearly identify where negativity is lurking.
1. Begin at the top -- "Which sectors of the business are not performing as well as the others?"
2. Senior Management -- "Which teams do not appear to be producing creative results?"
3. "Where are attitudes towards providing a valuable contribution, least favourable?"
4. "Where can the most personnel friction be encountered?"nnFollow the Trail of Negativity:nn * Avoidable mistakesnn * Personnel lacking in motivationnn * Friction within relationshipsnn * Management frustrationnn * Finger pointing, blaming, scapegoating....etcnnYou might already have a negative situation in mind. Who has responsibility over this area? Who are the key members of the team involved? How long has this problem been in existence?nnCauses of Negativity
1. The absence of knowing what you wantnn2. Focusing attention on what you don't wantnn3. Not believing in your ability to get what you wantnnIs that it? Just three causes? Yes! Whatever cause you can think of will sit in one of these three categories.
Now that is really good news! It means that for the first time you can target and isolate the cause of negativity before it spreads and then develop an approach to transform it into positive energy that can quickly be put to work.
Usually, never enough time is invested into becoming really clear on what is wanted. Oh yes, there will be a strategy in place and there will be performance measures to be judged against, but can you really say that each individual has been able to contribute and establish personal clarity on how best to be of greatest value to the business?nnAbsence of Clarity on What is Wanted has an Unavoidable Negative Impact:
1. People are not offered the opportunity to have a say and take ownership of how they can best contributenn2. People remain far more aware of what is not wanted and by default spend the majority of their efforts running away from it, which generates negativitynn3. Being unclear does not enable people to fully engage and to pour their best energies in the direction of what is wantednnEncourage your teams to be really specific about what is wanted in all areas of their team working. There are no wrong answers. However, everyone must contribute until a collective vision is established.nnFocus on the Targeted End Result - Eliminate Negativity
With this collective vision now firmly in mind you now can monitor where people are focusing their attention. Negativity will be present whenever the focus is either on:nn * The presence or existence of what is not wantednn * The absence of what is wantednn"But it does not yet exist" you might say. The real skill here is to have faith that it is on its way.
Progress begins with one step at a time. People will take the first step towards a Positive Workplace with the knowledge that they know where they are headed and believe that, with continued commitment, they will achieve their goals.
Somewhat like driving across America at night; the journey is a long one and the car headlights can only illuminate 100 yards at a time. However, the driver doesn't insist he see the whole journey before he sets off. The first step is taken in the knowledge that as one moves forward, the remainder of the journey will be illuminated.nnLack of Faith. The Root Cause of all Negativity
Faith is unreserved trust. If you can encourage the application of faith across the organisation then you have taken the biggest step to reversing workplace negativity.
Praise every step forward and continually encourage towards the end goal. Should the step taken require adjustment or is not well received, what is not wanted has become further clarified and focus can be shifted quickly to a further definition of what is wanted. Then, apply faith that the next step will be more productive.
This simple but highly effective Positive Empowerment approach can be applied to any negative situation within business.nnThe Benefits of Positive Empowerment Become Evident Almost Immediatelynn * Increased positive energy available producing the greatest impactnn * Everyone knows where they are headed and how they can best contribute, so less time is wasted with distractionsnn * Negativity is managed so that participants can re-group and get back on course quickly and effectivelynn * Faith in each team member and the team as a whole grows exponentiallynn * Increased creativity, opening of communication, identification of issues to be addressed more effectively and in a timelier mannernn * Positive management minimizes fear and judgment and enables everyone to give of their bestnnYou no longer have to accept the existence of negativity and its' detrimental impact on business performance, you can proactively replace it with the one thing you need more than any other -- people contributing to the best of their ability.
Focusing positive energy consistently and effectively will result in more sales, happier customers and greater well-being amongst the people servicing your business.