How to Prevent Toxic Workplace Culture

It should go without saying that operating within a toxic workplace is no fun.

People are upset and often unkind. When you work at a place like that, it can make it difficult to want to get up out of bed on Monday and deal with it all.

It's even worse when you're a manager in a toxic workplace. Because that means that you're not only having to deal with the toxic workplace culture yourself, you're also dealing with your team's drama as well.

And when you're constantly dealing with team drama, it's exhausting.

Not to mention that it's also a big headache and a waste of time.

So as a leader in your workplace, you'll want to do what you can to help shape your culture so that it's not toxic. And there is one toxic trait, in particular, that I think all managers should be on the lookout for.

The #1 Toxic Workplace Culture Trait

I personally believe that there is one trait that undermines managers the most.

BLAME CULTURE

A blame culture is simply this: when something goes wrong, the top priority is to figure out who was responsible and then to hold them accountable (aka, usually to punish them).

If everyone around you is constantly saying, "It's not my fault," then you're probably in one.

The problem is that when a blame culture is persistent, everyone:

• Is afraid that they're be blamed (and punished for something)

• Will avoid taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong

• Will be incentivized to point their finger at someone else (to avoid being blamed themselves)

The worst-case scenario is that it ends up becoming a vicious cycle. The moment that one person points a finger at someone else, that person will then point the finger at a third person. And that person will point a finger as well. And on and on it goes.

The consequence, as a manager, is that your team isn't getting as much done during this time. They're distracted from their work, too focused in participating in the blame culture.

Not to mention that operating in this environment is just not fun.

How to Prevent a Blame Culture

As the leader, you have so much power and influence over the culture that your team has, especially when it comes to blame culture.

All eyes will be on you when something goes wrong. Maybe a team member messed up. Or someone just straight up forgot to do something.

Whatever it is, they'll be looking to see if you'll react one of two ways:

1. Do you get upset, try to identify who's at fault, and then reprimand/threaten them?

2. Do you calmly try to help the team figure out what to do to get out of the bad situation?

In the first case, you'd be giving them every reason to believe that they should be afraid when something goes wrong. That you foster a blame culture.

But in the second case, you're doing the exact opposite:

• You're giving them reason to trust you

• You're encouraging them to bring up problems to you (instead of hiding them)

• You're showing that you are a helpful resource in times of need

And when they see and feel all of these things, this puts them at east. The vicious cycle of blame culture stops.

So if you want to prevent having a toxic workplace culture, one of the most impactful things you can do as a manager is to stop looking to assign blame and to start looking for solutions.