Believe it or not, being born before the internet and cell phone era had a few advantages. There were only three television stations: American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Central Broadcasting Company (CBS) and National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Televisions had been around for a while by then but they were still moderately expensive. That meant as a child, you did not have much of a say as to what was being shown on the television. Hence, playing outside with friends until the street lights came on was “the thing.”
I was born in the mid 60’s. When I was in the 4th grade (approx. 1976) my teacher Ms. Haliburton asked the class a question, “Does watching violence on television make a person violent?” For the first time, I had a teacher ask me something that did not have a right or wrong answer in a book…moreover, it asked for my opinion. Considering I had the vast life experiences of a 10 year old, I still wanted to consider how my experiences with television made me feel. My answer came from a place that defended the right for me to see violence on television. I said, “No, that is up to the person.”
Now, flash forward a few decades later, I was stationed in the military and scheduled to work weird hours. The times seriously confused my circadian rhythm. I quickly found the trick to assist my body in making the adjustment in a short period of time was to stay up for as close to 24 hours as I could. During those long hours I spent time in front of the television, watching previously recorded episodes of the shows I had missed during work hours. A popular show was The Sopranos, and I had never seen any of it. Anyone who has watched one episode of the show can attest to the fact that violence is an essential element in that show. I watched as many episodes as I could watch in 24 hours and the end result was not pretty. When I turned off the television the impact of the messaging (both visual and auditory) that had transferred to me was constantly being internalized. Needless to say, I came out of the room feeling like a squirrel hopped up on expresso infused nuts attempting to collect its stash on the last day before hibernation. Now just imagine that squirrely feeling the little animal would have after reaching for the final nut and only to have another squirrel touch the same nut…at the same time. Yup, that about sums it up. Whether we want to admit it or not watching television and movies can send a person on an emotional rollercoaster, because they are designed to do so. No judging here…remember, I respected the question and was initially ‘all in’ arguing that a person would not become violent from watching violence on television. Then again I was all of 10 years old the first time I thought about that issue. Fast forward to today, and I do believe I have a different answer for Ms. Haliburton.
Just as there is violence on television there are also other types of content out there that impact people one way or another. Let’s broaden the spectrum to include local/national events, sports, or politics, here the impact has the potential to be even more impactful. The takeaway here is to realize that no matter how mindful a person is about limiting the impact of how the information is internally processed because everyone is not as mindful.
Moving about your house after watching tons of content that wind you up is one thing but things are a bit different at work. Within the workplace, interaction with others is a must. Imagine two employees who had binge watched an emotionally charged TV show over a three day weekend or are fans of opposing teams that battled on the football field with the game ultimately determined by a bad or missed call from the referee. It is easy to envision some words being shared between the two employees that could interrupt the normal workflow. The resulting impact on the work environment harms not only the organization’s mission but can likely influence the individual employees ongoing employment. The bottom line is that continued employment generates income for both employees involved, and for the organization, and it would be in everyone’s best interest to stay on task. Sometimes it seems that the simplest of things can cause a disruption. However, when workplace behavior does become disruptive, it requires management to intervene.
Enter the manager/supervisor, the organization’s designated representative entrusted with ensuring the human relations climate in the workplace is at an acceptable level and conducive to being a productive working environment. The realization of being accountable for the behavior of others can sometimes be overwhelming and can be so intimidating that many “would be” managers/supervisors opt out of filling the position. How can we support those aspiring managers/supervisors, what strategies are proven to be successful in positively impacting that feeling of overwhelm or intimidation when faced with dealing with potentially difficult situations? What are the best ways to stabilize the behavior of others in the workplace? I believe a healthy formula is found using 3 relatively solid guiding principles:
1) Remind everyone that they win together as a team and lose together as a team
2) Continually improve communication: Listen and engage with all employees
3) Share information to the greatest extent and encourage communication in all directions
Over the next blog or two I will provide guidance and tips for success in these three guiding principles.
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My passion is to provide individuals in workplace with tools designed to improve employee engagement. If you enjoyed this blog, there are several more currently on our website at https://www.elitemauiteambuilding.com/blog
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