Here’s the Key to Avoiding Drama in the Print Shop

NOTHING CAN ADVERSELY affect the culture of your company more than unnecessary drama in your workplace. Let’s face it, regardless of our best efforts, we all occasionally encounter some degree of unwanted drama. So, what do we do to prevent it and how can we end it when it does occur?

First, realize this begins with the leadership of your organization. Unfortunately, at times, our managers can either ignore, participate in, or even foster unwanted drama. This often happens with young managers. Perhaps they lack the experience or courage to “make a stand” or they’re trying to become friends with their team members, and so they let things slide. Whatever the case may be, it’s essential that you train your leadership team to recognize and stop the drama as quickly as possible. They are your front-line defense and your best solution to recognizing situations early and putting a stop to them quickly. If your leadership team understands you won’t allow this type of distraction in your company and you will have their back, they will be much more willing to stop a situation from escalating. This could save you a lot of grief down the road.

At times, drama is created when people don’t have any other outlet to express their frustrations. It’s important to provide that process for all employees. This can be achieved by facilitating regular 1-1 meetings with each employee. At Signs.com, we have a goal to provide every employee with the opportunity to meet with their manager at least once per month. While we may not always achieve said goal perfectly, by holding regular 1-1 meetings with employees, we allow them the chance to discuss things that might be bothering them. Then we address those concerns. If employees don’t have the opportunity to communicate frustrations, things can often boil up unnecessarily and then inevitably drama ensues.

The best way to avoid drama is to continually focus on building a culture of respect and professionalism in your workplace. This begins with you and your leadership team. Set the expectation with your managers that your workplace will be conducted with the highest level of respect and professionalism and hold to that expectation. This means you hold people accountable for their actions. Address this concept openly at staff meetings, departmental meetings, and any other time it makes sense. Include respect and professionalism in your annual reviews when evaluating your employees for promotions and raises. As mentioned before, your leaders are the key here. If your leadership team fails to treat individuals with respect and professionalism, then regardless of how many times you discuss it, you will be doomed from the start. If your company’s culture is strong, when an employee treats another with disrespect or behaves unprofessionally, other team members will hold them accountable. As a result, potential drama can be mitigated before it becomes an unwanted problem in your organization.

Unfortunately, some people are wired to love drama, and they will always try to create it in situations where it’s totally unnecessary. Understanding that, make it a point in your organization to recognize situations where behavior is creating the drama and kill it as quickly as possible. Hopefully the ideas presented above can help you in those efforts and enable you to enjoy a happy and fulfilling workplace.