“The Productivity PRO!”tm news"E"letter
Number 31, December 2001
by Laura M. Stack, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional)
“The Productivity PRO!”tm
“The Productivity PRO!”tm news"E"letter is a monthly electronic newsletter distributed to our clients, human resource personnel, and colleagues. Laura Stack helps people leave the office earlier, with less stress, and more to show for it!
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MESSAGE: In the true spirit of the season, I want to express my heartfelt thanks for your contributions to our success this year. Best wishes to you and your family for a joyous holiday season.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
* Article: Reducing “Desk Rage” in Your Organization
* Time Tips and Traps
* Words of Wisdom
* Featured Program: “Combating Desk Rage and Rudeness in the Workplace”
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ARTICLE: Reducing “Desk Rage” in Your Organization
For months, Joe Cline (not his real name) kept his frustration over long hours, cramped quarters and rushed deadlines at an Internet company under wraps. But last month, when his boss needled him one time too many, he erupted, lashing out with an obscenity-laced tirade that I was privileged to witness. As Joe stormed out, I looked at my client…his comment? “Joe’s just a bad employee.” I thought, “Really? Could it be something else?”
If you’ve witnessed people losing their tempers at work, you know it is something else. Have you personally yelled at another employee? Or got angry enough to throw something…a handful of paper clips…a sheaf of papers…a phone…or a bare-knuckle punch to the wall?
This condition has been coined “desk rage,” displays of anger at work that take the form of rudeness, yelling, verbal abuse, attacks on office equipment (usually computers), and fistfights with office-mates. It is caused by workplace stress and long hours, where employees having arguments and cracking under the pressure.
Road rage, air rage, office rage, desk rage, work rage, bike rage, trolley rage…rage is the word of the moment. Every type of rage is a symptom of the same thing: too many commitments, too little time, and often too small of a space to work. The corralling of thousands of American office workers into cubicles barely bigger than a desk has been termed the “Dilbertization” of the workplace, like the cubicle that confines the cartoon character Dilbert.
From a November 2000 telephone survey of 1,305 working adults in the United States, conducted by Opinion Research Corp for the Wall Street Journal:
· 1 of 10 Americans say they work in an atmosphere where physical violence has occurred because of stress
· 42% of that total saying their workplace is a place where yelling and verbal abuse takes place.
· 29% admit to yelling at co-workers because of stress
· 23% were driven to tears because of workplace stress.
· And 14% said they work where machinery or equipment has been damaged through workplace rage.
Workplace violence culminating in bloodshed gets the most publicity. But far more common are the shouting matches and fistfights that don’t make the evening news. For example, an employee at an aerospace company in Denver told me that she recently watched, horrified, as two engineers in her office had to be physically separated after a disagreement over the proper procedure for filing paperwork on a faulty computer chip!
Here are some suggestions on what you can do to reduce desk rage in workers:
1. Ensure you are adequately staffed. Since overwork is the number one cause of desk rage, try not to pile too much on one person. Watch for signs of burnout such as excessive absenteeism, clock watching, distractedness, and emotional trouble.
2. Give employees enough room to work. Employees who work in cubicle environments show higher stress levels. So don’t overcrowd the cubicle area or give the bigwigs offices that are just as big or bigger than in the past, while the minions get stuffed into smaller and smaller places.
3. Try to reduce noise levels through higher partitions. Low-level noises such as voices, the clicking of keyboards, and the hum of the photocopier elevate stress hormones in the body.
4. Confront employee aggression so it doesn’t affect other employees. If the CEO is yelling and screaming at the executive assistant, then the executive assistant will start screaming and yelling at other co-workers. It seems acceptable, and what is modeled will be repeated.
5. Encourage EAP programs and counseling to help employees deal with stress levels. Many people often need professional help beyond your ability.
6. Encourage employees to carpool and use buses to reduce road rage that makes them show up high-strung. Road rage prior to arriving at work can make desk rage more severe.
7. Give employees places and programs to decompress. General Motors Corp has an employee-wellness program that includes meditation and Tai Chi in its workout facilities and a 24-hour help line for harried workers. And Ernst & Young LLP’s new tax center in Indianapolis has golfing areas, fish tanks and a recreation room. Denver Water has private rooms where workers can shut the door and nap. Get creative!
8. Rethink your dress code. There is some preliminary research that may place some blame on business casual dress codes. The casual nature of the dress code may affect the mentality of what is an appropriate business code of behavior. If you are dressed too casually, your behavior might also be too casual.
9. Involve HR or evaluate people on civility. There are no procedures in place to report rudeness in most companies. If an employee is sexually harassed, they know where to go, but companies are not recognizing civility as important or necessary until someone gets shot, slapped, or equipment is damaged. Unfortunately, companies don’t place a priority on workplace civility because it is not against the law the way that discrimination and sexual harassment are.
10. Hold a seminar on emotional control and courtesy. Companies may soon begin to hold training seminars on manners just as they do for sexual harassment and discrimination. Our clients hire us to help them cope with the stress and rudeness that seems to be about as commonplace as water coolers and copy machines in today’s workplaces. Whether it’s brushing by someone in the hall, calling your assistant incompetent, or cutting someone in line for the fax machine, corporate rudeness takes its toll. A study of 775 employees conducted at the University of North Carolina’s Business School showed that 12% of workers had quit their jobs to avoid nasty people at work, and 45% are thinking about doing so. In addition, more than half of workers lost time worrying about irate or rude people in the office.
If these examples sound all too familiar, your employees made need a reminder about the importance of common courtesies, emotional control, interpersonal skills, anger management, and social niceties. If you would like more information on scheduling a seminar on-site at your organization, please contact our office. Thank you!
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TIME TIPS AND TRAPS
* Consider taking a few days off this month from work to bake and freeze cookies, get some shopping done, wrap presents, and write holiday cards. Alleviate the last-minute rush!
* Order your holiday stamps over the phone and save another trip. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver them in 3-5 days. Call 1-800-782-6724 for the stamp fulfillment services division.
* You can order your Christmas tree by phone! You can get a six-foot Fraser Fir (my favorite!) by calling Laurel Springs Christmas Tree Farm at 1-800-851-2345.
* Brave the malls again after Christmas is over, to pick up next year’s treasures at a reduced cost! If you buy holiday greeting cards off-season, you’re likely to get a big discount. Stock up on wrap, ribbon, candy, stocking stuffers, and decorations.
* As you enter 2002, jot down gift ideas throughout the year in the “Notes” feature of Outlook. Create a new note called “Gifts” and add to it each time you think of something creative.
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WORDS OF WISDOM
“It’s possible to own too much. A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.” --- Lee Segall
“If not controlled, work will flow to the competent man until he submerges.” --- Charles Boyle
“When life demands more of people than they demand of life, as is ordinarily the case, what results is a resentment of life almost as deep-seated as the fear of death.” --- Tom Robbins
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FEATURED PROGRAM: “Combating Desk Rage and Rudeness in the Workplace: How to Keep Bad Manners and Lack of Civility From Impacting Productivity”
Do you know people who have lost their temper at work, yelled, or gotten angry enough to throw something? This condition has been coined “desk rage,” which is anger at work that takes the form of yelling, verbal abuse, and rudeness. Bad manners have become more prevalent as workplace stress, small workspaces, and long hours increase. Intermingling of employees’ business and social lives, casual dress, email, and the downturn in the economy can all cause desk rage. Rudeness and a lack of civility naturally increases stress, decreases productivity, causes arguments, and causes employees to break down under pressure. This program offers solutions on reducing small irritations in the workplace, teaching common courtesies, and educating employees on proper civility.
Course Objectives
· Understand the trends that are causing desk rage
· Teach basic corporate manners and etiquette
· Help employees deal with high stress levels
· Reduce noise levels and space limitations
· Review proper interpersonal communication skills
· Use appropriate email “netiquette”
· Prevent anger by reducing irritations and frustration at work
· Confront employee aggression so it doesn’t impact others
· Give employees programs and places to decompress
· Offer criticism constructively and professionally
· Learn how your dress code can impact behavior
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CONTACT US
Visit Celebration Presentations on-line!
http://www.LauraStack.com
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