No-Gossip Policy?

Employers are cracking down on workplace gossip. Here is an article on what one employer did. Although I LOVE the intention of a no-gossip policy, if a policy requires a group of people to simply NOT do something, it may not work as intended.

Some employers actually train their employees to offer a suggestion if they have a complaint.

"This place is so boring."
-- "Do you have a suggestion to make it more enjoyable?"

This is a very workable technique, although it still falls short when it's a complaint about another person. People rarely have the tool to suggest how to deal with another person, other than...

1) fix them. if that doesn't work, move to step 2
2) shame them. if that doesn't work, move to step 3
3) blame them. if that doesn't work, move to step 4
4) tell 'em to leave. if that doesn't work, move to The Work 'cause none of these steps really work ;)

If a complaint is present, people could do some work to see it's value. I also invite you to give the complainer a tool to make that value work for them...really work for them.
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QUESTION FOR YOU:

Regarding the workplace, do you see managers and employees open to structured formats for communicating complaints? If so, how are complaints currently being delivered in a constructive manner?

Cubicle Life

A FUNNY insight into cubicle LIFE. It's a short funny video that explains what it is like to work in corporate America.

Really, it doesn't have to be this way. I once experienced this type of work lifestyle first-hand and made a vow to produce another life...and then produced a program to help others do the same.

How Sharing Feelings Often Leads to Blame

Learn how the sharing of feelings often have an external source for blame.

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As an undergraduate a few years ago, I continuously heard “Tell us how you feel.”

I, too, read countless books declaring if I want to be emotionally healthy, I’d have to learn how to share my feelings. I also see my daughters being taught the process at school, learning to say “I feel (this) because you did (this).”

After working so hard at reaching self-actualization, I concluded that self-actualization is a concept that is different for everyone and that sometimes it is felt...and sometimes not. The same goes for feelings.

When we are experiencing any type of "good" or "bad" feeling, we often “blame” an outside source. Why? It's because we are rarely taught how to take COMPLETE responsibility for our own feelings, especially when describing them. We attribute them to another person, or event. “She makes me so mad!” or "My work is so boring." or “He makes me so happy.” We may even visit the past to see what started those feelings, or attempt to meet a future goal so that we can finally be happy.

After many failed attempts at finding work that made me “happy,” I realized how the pursuit of happiness was flawed in itself. The pursuit holds an assumption... [Read rest of article]

Find the Positive in the Negative

Learn how TRYING to turn negative thoughts into positive can result in wasted energy.

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They say we should turn our negative thoughts into positive ones.

They suggest we should try coming up with a solution to our problem.

These are strategies that I say are simply the resistance of living core values.

Plenty experts tout the idea of positive thinking, goal-setting, and motivation building. As we know, this thinking holds a purpose in our daily lives. They get us to work on time, they remind us to brush our teeth, or bite our tongue when we want to say something blunt. From another perspective, they also can serve as our own worst enemy. [Read rest of article]

Going Complaint-Free

Do you think it's possible for those around you to go complaint-free or gossip-free with your influence?

I say yes...and here's my invitation to do so.