How to Get Rid of Negativity in the Office

It never seems to fail, there is always at least one person (sometimes many) that just has to be a Debbie Downer. For a manager or owner negativity can be a very frustrating part of your daily life. It might seem like there is nothing you can do. You don’t necessarily want to fire a person who is negative, they can be very productive and vital people to your success. How can you get them to be a little more positive and help build up the positivity of other employees around them? There are a few ways.

Keep Things Positive Around Them

This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you are around someone negative, many people tend to pile on with the negativity. I have done this many times and it is really easy to join in the bashing of customers or the policies of the company or even the general status of the economy. The question is, does this bashing help? While it is good to blow off some steam once in a while, it can be very easy to keep doing that and before you know it, everyone is just looking at the negative and you all just stop trying.

It is important to try and make an effort to be positive every time you are around the negative person. This will help counteract their negativity on other people in the office and may even rub off on them and get people looking at the plus side.

Talk to Them About Being More Encouraging

There is no need to just beat around the bush, sometimes the most effective thing to do is to call them out on it. Keep in mind that some people don’t respond well to this, but some do. Be direct in telling them that they are being negative around everyone and it hurts morale and productivity. Ask them to be more vigilant in looking at the positive things that are going on and turning negative happenings into positive learning moments. There is a positive side to everything and they can find it more often if they just try.

Share Positive Things With Them

Lastly, some people are negative because they only see that side of the coin. As a manager or owner you can share some positive things about their sphere of influence in the company (within your privacy rules of course). If you can show them the light they may be able to come out of the dark alley of negativity and share that positive attitude with everyone else. I have worked in many places where there was so much talk going on simply because the higher-ups didn’t share enough information for employees to have a clear picture of exactly how well they were doing and how the company was doing. They may have a false image of how bad things are, or how good things are. There is no reason to sugar coat things too much. Transparency and be a great motivator and make it easier for people to understand how their job is contributing to everything else that is going on in the company.

A Positive Attitude will Help You Climb Higher

There is something about being the person at the bottom of the ladder that can make people do strange things. I have heard all kinds of advice on what you should do to make yourself more noticeable and valuable to your company and by doing that, make your job more secure. Some of the advice is good, but ultimately there is really no such thing as total job security. If the bottom line says that a company needs to have layoffs, there will be layoffs. There is nothing that you can do about it really. What you should do is keep a positive outlook and try to make yourself stand out to your bosses so that you can further your career and take on new challenges and responsibilities.

Positivity is the Key to Standing Out

Keeping a positive outlook isn’t easy. I try to look at the bright side of everything that I can, but things still get to me, people still annoy me and some day I am down-right cranky. However, if you make a concerted effort to be positive and look for the good in people and situations it will become easier to maintain that attitude. This is good for both your co-workers and yourself. Your own well-being can be improved by being more positive.

Outside just improving your own mental and emotional health, you are affecting the people around you. If you become a force for positivity in your company, then others will want to be around you. They will want to work with you on projects. Your superiors will see that and recognize that having a person like that around improves everyone’s work ethic and moral. If you are a supervisor you know that if everyone on your team is negative about something it will never get done. Or at least it won’t be done well. The positive force stands out and pulls the whole upward.

Don’t Let The Debbie-Downers of the Office Get to You

If you remember anything from physics (which I barely do) you should remember Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you are a positive force in your company there is inevitably be someone who is a negative force. There is really no way to get rid of these people, they exist in some form in every company I have ever worked for.

Don’t let these people ruin what you are trying to do. They will always try to look at the worst possible outcome, the worst effect of a new system or policy and the worst things about you in particular. Don’t listen to the negative stuff. You know most of it already, and you are choosing to move past it and make the best of things.  Also, don’t stoop to being negative back toward them. This is what I like to call the politicians trap. When one person is negative, it is the natural reaction for the opposing person to be negative right back. We must fight this urge and stay positive, it will be better in the long run. Negativity only brings more negativity.

It’ll be Okay, Really

Lastly, remember that everything will be okay. If you have a setback, it’ll be okay. If you don’t make your goal, it’ll be okay. If your idea isn’t chosen by your boss, it’ll be okay. Life is a continuum. It keeps going and when you stay positive and keep giving you best you will not only stand out, but you will feel better at each point along the way. You can’t only dream about the future. You need to be happy with where you are and who you are right now while working on bigger and better things for the future. A positive attitude will give you a leg up in business and in life.