Have you ever worked in a place where the culture is toxic and where people do not feel able to speak their minds? The sort of environment where there is disloyalty, backstabbing, extreme covert agendas and other bad behaviours?

Culture is often cited as a blocker to implementing successful change, but what can be done to overcome a toxic culture? 

How to Tackle a Toxic Work Culture

An interesting question to ask is "how did the environment become so toxic?" Unless the organisation is presided over by a nefarious narcissist, it's unlikely the toxicity has been designed with intent. More often, the toxicity seeps, slowly, into an otherwise healthy environment. If the problem is not immediately addressed and the root cause solved, the toxicity becomes somehow "normal", part of the background noise within the organisation that's easy to overlook.

If you have a burst sewage pipe, you don't wait until your home is swamped with waste before you do anything. A provocative metaphor, but the same is true with a toxic workplace culture. The best time to call out negative behaviours is when they first occur.  

5 Ways to tackle Conflict and Bad Behaviours at Work

1. Set a clear boundary, stating that toxicity is not acceptable. 
2. Highlight that your organisation has a healthy culture of constructive challenge and dissent.   
3. Facilitate a conversation between the relevant stakeholders to determine what is acceptable and what isn't. 
4. Reaffirm that those who stand up to bad behaviours will be listened to and supported.  
5. Make sure everybody knows they can call out bad behaviours, irrespective of their grade or perceived power status. 

The Importance of 'Fresh Eyes' 

Those who are new to an organisation may feel vulnerable, and those who are less experienced may feel that speaking out about a toxic culture could put their jobs on the line. Yet these are the very people whose voices should be amplified, as they can see the (metaphorical) sewage others have long since become immune to. It's important that they are supported and feel validated.  

Business analysts and practitioners of change who come in 'fresh' can often spot cultural issues that those within the situation have come to see as normal. It's their responsibility to call out these issues.  

How to Call out Bad Behaviour 

How you call out an infraction depends very much on the context. Some, for example outright discrimination or verbal attacks, call for an immediate and public challenge. If an incident is significant enough, the situation ought to be addressed with the assistance of an HR specialist.  

In some cases, a low-key approach is far more appropriate, arranging a private discussion where concerns are raised. It may be that the person was entirely unaware (having a genuine 'blind spot') and mends their ways immediately. Or the observer may have only seen part of an exchange and could have misread the situation entirely. Sometimes colleagues who have worked together for years have heated exchanges yet have total mutual respect for each other, directness itself is not an attack. A quiet conversation provides the opportunity to discover this. 

The bottom line is that the moment somebody feels uncomfortable or affronted there's clearly an issue, which must be addressed immediately. 

Value Diversity 

When people within a team are all alike, they are perhaps more likely to share similar perspectives and worldviews, leading to a monoculture which can seem quite toxic to outsiders. It's quite possible that the 'nodding along syndrome' described in a previous blog will emerge too. When there is true diversity within a team, this is much less likely to occur and if it does start to occur there is a greater chance it will be called out immediately. 

In summary: it's essential that teams value diversity and constructive dissent, with the voices of those who take a stand heard, respected and amplified where possible. Business analysts are in the perfect position to recognise a toxic culture, consider different perspectives and call out issues as early as possible.  

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