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Do your coworkers
cheer you up
or bring you down?
Have you ever gone to lunch with an unhappy colleague
and returned feeling depressed yourself? If so,
then you may appreciate the findings of researchers at
Harvard and MIT, who discovered that emotions actually
follow the same model of “contagion” as infectious
diseases. Using data from the Framingham Heart
Study, which has followed a large group of subjects
since 1948, they found that an individual’s emotional
state is clearly related to the emotional state of their
friends and acquaintances.
Although this research had a long-term focus, we have
probably all experienced short-term mood swings from
being around coworkers or friends. Talking with a
sunny, cheerful person can be a real “upper”, but
spending time with whiners and complainers will quickly
bring you down. So if you are already in a
difficult or stressful situation at work, choose your
luncheon companions carefully! An hour of griping
will only make things seem more bleak than ever.
If your colleagues are unusually aggravating, you
may find some help here:
How to Deal with Childish Adults.
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My employees won't stop squabbling!
Q:
I manage a group of four women who bicker
constantly.
They are quick to “cop
an attitude” and get defensive about stupid little
things.
To make it worse, I recently
hired a young, inexperienced secretary who is very
rude.
When anyone tries to
instruct her, she comes back with a smart-mouth
response.
I feel like I’m supervising a
bunch of tattling two-year-olds.
I wish they would all
just shut up, get along, and focus on work.
Sometimes I plan what I’m
going to say about these issues, then I chicken out.
I know I need a
stronger backbone, but I'm not the type of manager
who likes dealing with conflict.
What should I do?
Tired
Supervisor
See Marie's Answer |
