Negativity is contagious

Have you noticed you can be in a great mood then suddenly you arrive at work and within a short time you feel negative, frustrated and generally down? It may not be you that is the problem.

When someone in the office is sick everybody becomes a little concerned about getting sick. If someone is coughing all over the place or sneezes nearby you will probably think to yourself that that person should go home before they infect the whole office with their pathogen. At the very least after a sneeze when the person puts hand to nose and mouth, that is NOT a hand you want to shake at work! Hopefully that person’s manager will quietly suggest that they head to the doctor and have some time off to recuperate before re-joining the team.

Why are we so much more tolerant of negativity? If someone is near your desk spreading negativity everywhere it will affect you. Hopefully you’re resilient enough to overcome it, but if you spend enough time around it you will no doubt come down with a case of the negatives.

The biggest difference between the common cold and negativity is that you will recover from the common cold in a couple of days, or a week if it’s particularly bad. Negativity however can stay with a person long-term, and in some cases perpetually. Imagine if, as a boss, you could say, “Terry – why don’t you head home and have a few days off? You sound a bit run down, so take some time off and come back in when you are feeling better.”

Of course, this does happen when the negativity is caused by, or expressed as stress. It’s receiving more recognition due to the amount of suffering that individuals undergo, but it is still quite poorly understood as something that affects those around you.

Think about how you feel when you hear someone complain, or slam the phone down or trudge into the office without making eye contact with anyone. Consider also what it is like to be on the receiving end of criticism and cynicism – or to have someone that disagrees with your every suggestion just out of habit. It inevitably makes your next interaction with that person or another, ever-so-slightly less positive. So it’s important to make sure you are doing small acts that make for a better working environment, rather than those negative energy sapping actions that drive people nuts.

What do you do when you encounter someone in a negative headspace?

You need to make people aware of their negativity. It doesn’t have to be a private one-on-one discussion or a big confrontation; you just need to add a few lines to your repertoire:

• “Yes, that’s one to look at it, but you could also say…”
  
• “A more positive approach would be…”

You could also have a meeting where you discuss the general mood of the team. Discuss what creates negativity and what starts a downward spiral. Maybe refer to the Negative Land of W! Wishing, whining, wasting time, and how negative internal messages can be contagious when they are seen in body language and voiced around the office. Ask what can be done about it. Then agree to a plan – for example when complaining, always making a suggestion for improvement.

The great news is – positivity is contagious too.

Eve Ash is currently producing a new raw comedy training series (shot in US) – CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATION. Take a sneak preview at a very relevant program in the new series before it is released: Developing Successful Mindsets.